Why a Man in His 40s Who Received Orders from a North Korean Operative Was Sentenced to Five Years in Prison

[Financial News] A man in his 40s who was caught collecting personal information on North Korean defectors and active-duty military personnel at the direction of a North Korean operative has been sentenced to prison.
According to legal sources on the 5th, the 21st Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Jon Sun-pyo, sentenced Defendant A, 43, to five years in prison and five years’ suspension of qualifications on the 28th of last month for violating the National Security Act, including espionage charges.
Defendant A, who operated a virtual-asset investment company in Hanam City, Gyeonggi Province, met an operative from North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau through a cryptocurrency trading community around 2016 and continued communicating with him via Telegram.
In 2021, Defendant A received cryptocurrency worth approximately 660 million won (US$600,000) from the operative as investment operating funds.
In May 2021, Defendant A was instructed to approach a North Korean defector known for opposing North Korea and find out the person’s identity and activities. He obtained the cryptocurrency wallet address of Defendant B, the head of a defector organization that sends anti-North Korean leaflets, by saying, "I would like to donate about 1 million won every month," and then passed the address to the operative.
The North Korean operative sent B cryptocurrency worth 1 million won as a donation, helping A gain B’s trust. In October of that year, B sent A videos and photographs of the organization’s event to distribute anti-North Korean leaflets.
A also approached a North Korean defector YouTuber who had formerly worked for North Korea’s Ministry of State Security by email, saying, "I have always been very interested in North Korean human rights issues" and "If you have time, I hope we can have a drink of soju and talk comfortably." He obtained the person’s mobile phone number and photographs.
In July 2021, A received an identity-information file containing the names, assigned units, resident registration numbers and other details of seven active-duty officers. He was instructed to "verify additional information and recruit them."
After obtaining photographs of Captain C in uniform and of his face from C’s social media accounts, A asked a private investigation agency to follow him, saying, "My daughter is seeing someone, and I want to know about his relationships with women and his private life."
The operative paid the private investigation agency 2.5 million won worth of Bitcoin in return. The agency then found and reported information including an exterior view of Captain C’s residence, photographs of the entrance door, his roommate’s rank and name, and his schedule and movements.
In September of that year, A offered another captain money in exchange for providing military organizational charts and other information via Telegram, but the offer was rejected. The court ruled that A’s actions constituted the detection and collection of state and military secrets under the direction of a North Korean operative, in violation of the National Security Act.
The court determined that the contact information and activities of North Korean defectors constituted "state secrets with substantial value warranting protection as confidential information, because if disclosed to North Korea, they could be used to track and terrorize the defectors or harm their family members remaining in North Korea."
Previously, A had been separately indicted on charges including recruiting an active-duty officer and stealing military secrets at the direction of the same operative. The Supreme Court of Korea finalized a sentence of four years in prison and four years’ suspension of qualifications against him last year.
[email protected] Yoo Sun-jun Reporter