A Chinese man in his 40s, who illegally lived in the United States and received orders from North Korea, has been sentenced to eight years in prison by a federal court for smuggling a large quantity of weapons and military equipment. The man stated during the investigation that the smuggled weapons would be used for a "surprise attack on Korea."
On the 19th (local time), the U.S. Department of Justice's Central District of California announced that the federal court in Los Angeles sentenced Shenghua Wen (42), a Chinese national charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and illegal foreign government agent activity, to 96 months in prison. Wen pleaded guilty to both charges brought against him in December of last year.
According to the investigation by U.S. prosecutors, Wen entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2012. After this visa expired the following year, he remained in California and continued to live illegally. It was revealed that Wen contacted North Korean officials at a Chinese embassy before entering the U.S., and began receiving and executing directives for weapon purchases and smuggling for North Korea via online messenger starting in 2022.
Wen's criminal activities were bold and meticulous. He smuggled firearms in at least three containers through the Long Beach Port in L.A. in 2023, disguising them as regular cargo, before smuggling them to North Korea via China. In May of the same year, he acquired a gun shop in Houston, Texas, to facilitate his crimes. He then secured large quantities of available firearms and sent them to North Korea. In September of last year, he purchased about 60,000 rounds of 9 mm ammunition intended for shipment to North Korea.
In addition to simple firearms, the items he smuggled included advanced technological equipment such as devices for identifying chemical threats and portable wideband receivers for detecting various communication signals. Separately, he also attempted to purchase reconnaissance thermal imaging systems that could be mounted on drones or helicopters, as well as engines for civilian aircraft. Prosecutors stated that North Korea remitted approximately $2 million (about 2.79 billion won) to support Wen's activities.
In particular, according to the federal indictment, Wen stated that the weapons and equipment he sent to North Korea would be used for a surprise attack on Korea. It was also noted in the indictment that he attempted to purchase military uniforms to disguise North Korean soldiers during a surprise attack, as reported by the Associated Press. However, U.S. authorities did not provide specific details about Wen's activities during the ten years prior to 2022 when he began operating in the U.S., i.e., from 2012.