South Korean man sentenced to 5 years in prison for spying for NK

A South Korean man, aged 43, has been sentenced to five years in prison for spying for North Korea. He was found to have taken orders from a North Korean agent through Telegram to gather information about anti-Pyongyang defectors and their activities. The man allegedly misappropriated approximately $479,346 worth of virtual currency from the North Korean agent and attempted to support a North Korean defector group by offering to sponsor them.

He then requested the group's virtual currency wallet address, which he provided to the agent, who transferred Bitcoin in the name of donation. In return, the man received videos and photos of the group sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets. He was also tasked with collecting personal information of seven active-duty military officers.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.