On Tuesday, August 11th, South Korean police announced that two former Chinese military personnel who had served in the People’s Liberation Army were arrested for allegedly engaging in espionage activities in South Korea. They are accused of intercepting communications between American and South Korean military aircraft and gathering sensitive intelligence on American military bases and joint military exercises.
According to the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Department and sources in the police, the first suspect is a Chinese man in his sixties. He is charged with entering South Korea multiple times on a tourist visa since January 2024 and setting up eavesdropping equipment near Air Force bases and airports in South Korean mountains, such as Gunsan. The equipment consisted of a Software Defined Radio (SDR), antennas, and a laptop.
Police allege that he intercepted wireless communication between American and South Korean Air Force pilots and control towers multiple times, coinciding closely with the timing of American and South Korean military exercises. During interrogation, the man claimed that listening to aviation communications was merely a “personal hobby”, but police are currently conducting digital forensics on his computer to determine if the communications have been transmitted to Chinese official agencies.
The second suspect is a 45-year-old Chinese national of Korean descent, also a retired military personnel. He operated a store selling American military goods near the large U.S. military base, Camp Humphreys, in Pyeongtaek.
Authorities stated that this man is suspected of recruiting and financially supporting a South Korean female employee at the American military command headquarters from November 2021 to May 2026, obtaining classified information on details of the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises, photos of the movements of weapons equipment at the headquarters, and personnel changes of senior U.S. military officers through a romantic relationship and monetary transactions. The man defended his actions as gathering information for “business development”.
Both suspects have been arrested and charged with espionage offenses under South Korea’s Criminal Code, as well as relevant laws such as the Military Facilities Protection Act and the Communications Secrets Protection Act.
As news of the arrest of the two former Chinese soldiers broke, the U.S. and South Korean militaries announced on Monday that they would commence a large-scale annual joint military exercise next week. Currently, about 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea to deter China and North Korea.
Following this incident, the Associated Press attempted to contact the Chinese Embassy in South Korea after business hours on Tuesday, but there was no answer.