A South Korean man has been sentenced to five years in prison for spying for North Korea, officials said Saturday.
The 43-year-old man, whose identity was withheld, was found to have received an order from a North Korean agent via the messaging app Telegram in May-June of 2021 to collect information about anti-Pyongyang defectors from North Korea and their activities.
Around that time, the man took about 660 million won (US$479,346) worth of virtual currency from the North Korean agent as funds for operating cryptocurrency investments.
He later approached the head of a North Korean defector group, offering to sponsor the organization. He asked the leader to create a virtual currency wallet and forwarded its address to the North Korean agent.
After the agent transferred 1 million won worth of Bitcoin in the name of donation, the man received videos and photos showing the group sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets in return.
The man was also instructed by the agent to collect personal information of seven active-duty military officers, including their units and resident registration numbers, and attempt to recruit them for espionage.
The man hired a private investigation agency to gather information about one of the seven officers and the agency subsequently passed along details regarding the officer's unit, residence, schedule, and activities in exchange for 2.5 million won in cryptocurrency.
The Seoul Central District Court convicted the man for violating the National Security Act, saying information about anti-Pyongyang North Korean defectors warrants protection because it can be used to harm them or their families.
Separately, the man had been sentenced to four years in prison by the Supreme Court in December last year for approaching an active-duty military officer and leaking military secrets at the request of North Korea. (Yonhap)
