A Chinese teenager has been arrested by Korean authorities for allegedly eavesdropping on tower communications using a radio at Jeju Airport in South Korea. The police discovered at least two photos of Korean military facilities on his camera and have currently prohibited him from leaving the country.
According to the Jeju Police Department on Tuesday (September 15th), the Chinese teenager in his teens arrived in Jeju from China on August 27th. He spent about 90 minutes at the observation deck on the 4th floor of Jeju Airport using a handheld radio to listen to communications between the airport tower and aircraft. After a tourist reported his behavior as suspicious, the police were called to investigate.
The teenager is currently under non-custodial status and is cooperating with police investigations. Authorities mentioned that on the day of the incident, he arrived from China to Jeju carrying a radio transceiver, which is priced at 43,000 Korean won if bought online in China.
The police revealed that the teenager had previously entered South Korea on multiple occasions without a guardian or companions. They found multiple photos of Korean military facilities in his possession on the camera, including at least two facilities in Gyeonggi Province.
Korean authorities have restricted the teenager from leaving the country and have initiated an investigation against him for suspected violations of the Communication Secrets Protection Act.
According to the “Korea JoongAng Daily,” the police investigation is focused on whether the teenager intercepted communications without authorization and for what purpose. The frequencies of airport air traffic control communications are publicly available information retrievable through aviation data, while the content includes information such as aircraft takeoff, landing, taxiing, altitude, and flight direction.
Jeju Airport is classified as a Level A national important facility in South Korea’s security classification system, which is the highest level.
Previously, in the years between 2024 and 2025, two Chinese high school students illegally photographed hundreds of military facility images at at least four locations in South Korea. On August 27, 2026, they were respectively sentenced by a Korean court under the criminal law of “aiding the enemy” to 1.5 to 2 years of undetermined imprisonment and 2 years of definite imprisonment.