A Chinese exchange student who illegally filmed the Navy Operations Command in Busan and a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier with a drone was sentenced to prison in the first trial. The court found that even if there was no confirmation that the footage was leaked to an enemy state, it exposed information about military facilities and posed a risk to Korea's military interests.
The Busan District Court Criminal Division 5 (Presiding Judge Kim Hyun-soon, senior judge) on the 10th sentenced a Chinese exchange student, identified as A, to one year and six months in prison on charges of general benefitting the enemy and violating the Act on the Protection of Military Bases and Installations. A Chinese exchange student, identified as B, who was indicted together, was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years. A had been released on bail and tried without detention, but the panel revoked bail after the prison sentence, citing flight risk.
The panel said the defendants filmed military facilities without permission and determined that by exposing information about military facilities, they posed a significant risk to Korea's military interests. However, the court considered in sentencing that there was no confirmation the photos and videos were actually leaked to enemy or unfriendly states or groups. Prosecutors had earlier sought five years in prison for A and two years for B.
A and others were brought to trial on charges of illegally filming nine times between March 2023 and June 2024 the inside of a military base and the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71, 100,000-ton class) using a drone and mobile phones near the Busan Operations Base of the Navy Operations Command in Nam-gu, Busan.
On June 25, 2024, the day former President Yoon Suk-yeol, then the sitting president, was scheduled to visit the Theodore Roosevelt, they were found to have filmed the warship moored at the Busan Operations Base with a drone for about five minutes before being caught by a patrolling military official.
During the investigation, authorities reportedly secured 172 photos and 22 videos totaling 11.9GB. A was also charged with repeatedly sharing the footage with an acquaintance via a Chinese messenger application.
At trial, A's side argued there was no intent to collect military information. The position was that the filming was out of interest in military culture and not intended to harm Korea's military interests or security. They also argued that warships such as aircraft carriers are not military facilities.
The panel did not accept A's arguments and found A guilty of the crime of general benefitting the enemy. The offense punishes acts that harm Korea's military interests. The panel determined that a specific intent to benefit an enemy state is not necessarily required for the offense to be established and, based on the submitted evidence, found A guilty of the offense.
However, the panel drew a line against the prosecutors' view to the effect that warships or aircraft carriers themselves constitute military facilities. The court found that, under the statute, warships and aircraft carriers do not fall under military facilities. Still, because filming the naval base constitutes a violation of the Act on the Protection of Military Bases and Installations, it did not enter a separate not-guilty verdict.
On the 12th, the Suwon District Court also handed down prison sentences after applying the offense of general benefitting the enemy to two Chinese nationals indicted on charges of illegally filming fighter jets and facilities at domestic South Korea–U.S. military installations and an international airport and attempting to intercept control communications.