U.S. airmen with the 51st Security Forces Squadron discuss security measures during Ulchi Freedom Shield at Osan Air Base, South Korea, Aug. 22, 2024. (Sabrina Fuller-Judd/U.S. Air Force)
A South Korean soldier raised in China has been arrested on suspicion of leaking classified military information about joint U.S.-South Korean exercises to Chinese intelligence agents, prosecutors said this month.
The 22-year-old army supply specialist, whose name has not been released, was arrested April 18 and charged with leaking military secrets and accepting bribes from foreign agents, according to a redacted indictment filed May 15 by the Military Prosecutors’ Office in Gangwon District.
Prosecutors allege the soldier transmitted information — including details related to Ulchi Freedom Shield, a large-scale joint military exercise with the United States — to China’s Intelligence Bureau of the Joint Staff Department.
The leaked documents reportedly contained sensitive details such as base names, troop schedules and logistical capabilities, along with participating troops’ personal information.
The soldier allegedly received about $12,215 via the Chinese digital payment platform Alipay, according to the 15-page indictment.
Prosecutors said the soldier came into contact with Chinese agents last year after posting a photo of himself in uniform on RedNote, a Chinese social media app. Agents allegedly commented on the image and later contacted him with offers of paid translation work.
Born in 2003, the soldier was raised in Beijing by his maternal grandfather, a retired Chinese soldier, the indictment said. His mother, a Chinese national, operated a language school and his father is South Korean.
The soldier enrolled at Macau University of Science and Technology in 2021 to study hotel management but left in 2023 to fulfil South Korea’s mandatory 18-month military service.
While serving, he allegedly traveled to China multiple times to meet with intelligence agents. Between August and February, prosecutors say he accessed the South Korean National Defense Network using his military credentials, photographed files with an iPhone purchased in China, and uploaded them to a Chinese server.
“The defendant harmed South Korea and the U.S.’s military interests by leaking confidential military information to the Chinese intelligence agency,” the indictment said.
U.S. Forces Korea acknowledged but did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment Tuesday.
The case follows a string of suspected Chinese espionage incidents in South Korea.
Two Chinese teenagers were arrested March 21 for allegedly photographing military aircraft near Suwon Air Base, about 20 miles south of Seoul. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service have reported 11 similar cases of illegal photography near military sites since June 2024, according to lawmakers briefed by the agency on April 30.
