On April 21, the Suwon District Court in South Korea conducted a trial for two Chinese high school students who had repeatedly engaged in the act of secretly photographing American and South Korean military planes and military control facilities in Korea. The prosecution requested a sentence of 3 to 4 years of imprisonment for the students. In March of last year, the two individuals were arrested for secretly taking photos of military aircraft near the 10th Fighter Wing in Gyeonggi Province.
According to reports from Yonhap News Agency, on April 21, the Suwon District Court held a closing trial for the two Chinese high school students. The South Korean prosecution sought a sentence of 3 to 4 years for one of the students and 4 years for the other, and requested the court to confiscate the cameras and other items used by the two individuals to photograph American and South Korean military facilities.
The prosecution alleged that the two defendants, over the course of the second half of 2024 to March 2025, entered South Korea three and two times respectively, using digital cameras and mobile phones equipped with telephoto lenses to take pictures of fighter planes and control facilities near multiple military installations and international airports. The prosecution emphasized that such actions threatening military security constitute serious crimes, and the two defendants showed “lack of remorse.”
During their final statements in court, the two defendants argued that they never imagined their actions, which they claimed were purely out of curiosity, would lead to such serious consequences. They stated that they deeply reflected on their actions and hoped for a fair judgment from the court.
Reportedly, the photos involved in the case included four American and South Korean military facilities such as the Suwon Air Force Base, the Pyeongtaek Osan Air Force Base, and U.S. military bases, as well as three international airports in Incheon, Gimpo, and Jeju. On the afternoon of March 21, 2025, the two individuals were arrested by local police near the Suwon Air Force Base while illicitly photographing the takeoff and landing of fighter planes.
It was reported by South Korean media at the time that one of the individuals stated during the investigation that their father was a member of the Chinese public security bureau, leading some media to question whether these two individuals were indeed students.
A certain individual known as A, who claimed their father was in public security, had previously entered South Korea in the second half of 2024 and early 2025, staying for about 4 to 5 days each time. Another individual B had traveled with A to South Korea in the second half of 2024 and also stayed for 4 to 5 days each time.
Regarding their motivation for taking photos of military aircraft, the two individuals stated at the time that their hobby was simply photographing planes. It is reported that they had taken over a hundred photos of military planes taking off and landing alone.