Two Taiwanese individuals who illegally entered the airshow venue at the U.S. Forces Korea Osan Air Base and filmed military aircraft have been sentenced to suspended prison terms.
According to the legal community on the 7th, Judge Woo Je-cheon of the Suwon District Court Pyeongtaek Branch sentenced two defendants, A, a Taiwanese national in his 60s, and B, in his 40s, to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year suspension for violating the Military Base and Military Facilities Protection Act.
Judge Woo stated, 'The defendants entered the military base and filmed military facilities without the permission of the commanding officer, and considering the circumstances and content of the offense, the nature of the crime is poor.'
However, he noted that 'there is no indication that the defendants had the intention to detect military secrets or anything beyond their entry and filming actions,' stating that 'it appears that all the photographs taken were seized and not leaked outside.'
A and others are suspected of illegally filming about 10 military facilities, including fighter jets, with a DSLR camera after entering the '2025 Osan Airshow (Osan Air Power Day)' without the commanding officer's permission around 11:30 a.m. on May 10th.
At the time, U.S. Forces restricted entry for nationals from certain countries, including China and Taiwan, for security reasons. It was investigated that A and others secretly entered the airshow venue by mingling among Koreans through the local entrance, despite being stopped three times by the U.S. military.
Police received a report from a witness saying, 'Suspicious individuals speaking a language similar to Chinese are seen taking pictures,' and rushed to the scene to urgently arrest A and others.
They reportedly stated during police questioning that they were 'filming out of curiosity.'