Photographs Distributed on Chinese Social Media
Filming Took Place on the Day of Former President Yoon's Visit
Police: "A Serious Crime Threatening National Security"
Chinese international students who illegally filmed a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and other military assets with a drone at a South Korean naval base?where they had docked to participate in a South Korea-U.S.-Japan military exercise?have been arrested by the police. Investigations revealed that they also filmed the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier visited by former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was there to encourage South Korean and U.S. troops.
On June 26, the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency announced that Chinese international student A had been arrested on charges of violating the Punishment of Minor Offenses Act and the Military Bases and Installations Protection Act. Another student, B, was also arrested on the same charges, while C was booked without detention.
The students, who attend a university in Busan, are accused of illegally filming the inside of the naval base and the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (100,000-ton class) by flying a drone near the Naval Operations Command in Nam-gu, Busan, from March 2023 to June 2024.
According to the police investigation, over this period, they conducted a total of nine drone flights, capturing 172 photographs and 22 videos. The materials filmed in this way were then distributed without authorization via Chinese social media (SNS).
On June 25, 2023, A and others were caught by a patrolling soldier while illegally filming with a drone from a hill near the Naval Operations Command and were handed over to the police. On the day of their arrest, then-President Yoon Suk Yeol visited the USS Roosevelt, toured the vessel, and met with South Korean and U.S. service members to offer encouragement.
The Roosevelt had docked at the Naval Operations Command on June 22 to participate in "Freedom Edge," the first multi-domain military exercise involving South Korea, the United States, and Japan.
A police official stated, "Over an extended period, they illegally filmed South Korean and U.S. military bases and facilities and distributed the footage online, resulting in the transmission of military information abroad," adding, "We regarded this as a serious security breach threatening national security and conducted the investigation in active cooperation with the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office, the Busan branch of the National Intelligence Service, and the Defense Counterintelligence Command."
The official further emphasized, "Unauthorized filming of military facilities and the illegal distribution of such footage online are serious crimes that threaten national security," and stated, "We plan to conduct a thorough investigation."
Meanwhile, in April, another case of illegal filming of domestic military facilities by Chinese nationals was uncovered. Individuals who were caught by the police for unauthorized filming of military facilities, including fighter jets, near the Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, were found to be high school students from China. At the time, they stated, "My father works in public security."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
