Two ex-PLA operatives charged with spying on South Korean and U.S. bases
Two former Chinese soldiers have been indicted for illegally intercepting communications and stealing data from South Korean and U.S. military installations.
The Suwon District Prosecutors Office in Pyeongtaek has indicted two former members of China’s People’s one outlet Army for espionage against the Korean military and U.S. Forces Korea. The older suspect, who spent about four decades in a PLA eavesdropping unit, allegedly conducted 13 wiretaps on key Korean and U.S. air and naval facilities between March 2024 and August, extracting roughly 13.9 terabytes of intercepted communications and sending it to China.
The younger suspect, a former PLA special-forces operative, is charged with stealing data on Korea-U.S. joint drills and leadership details on 12 occasions, and with recruiting a civilian and soldiers at Camp Humphreys while operating a military supply shop near the base from November 2021 to May. He is also accused of photographing weapons movements inside the camp using his phone. Both cases highlight ongoing intelligence-gathering efforts targeting allied forces in the region.
Why it matters
The indictments reveal a sophisticated Chinese espionage effort against allied military operations in East Asia.
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