Uzbek national sentenced to 16 months for funding Syria-based terrorist group
SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Yonhap) -- An Uzbek national in South Korea has been sentenced t...
A 16-month prison term was handed down to an Uzbek national residing in South Korea, as reported by legal sources on November 15. The defendant was found guilty of violating anti-terrorism laws by transferring funds to a Syrian terrorist organization. The court ordered the defendant to repay 1.25 million won, an equivalent of the 6 transfers made to a designated KTJ member's account between January 2024 and January 2025.
KTJ, a U.N.-listed extremist group allied with al-Qaida, has been tied to several high-profile terrorist attacks, including the 2016 Chinese Embassy bombing in Kyrgyzstan and the 2017 St. Petersburg subway bombing in Russia. The Uzbek individual entered South Korea on a student visa to attend a university-affiliated language institute and was residing in the country as an international student at the time of the contact with the KTJ member.
According to the legal sources, the court concluded that the defendant knowingly funded a terrorist group with the intention of benefiting a terrorist member, emphasizing that such funding poses a significant threat to international peace and national security. The defendant was also found guilty of attempting to receive money from a South Korean individual for onward transfer to Syria at the KTJ member's request, though he was unable to secure the funds.
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