Investigation of a Man in His 50s Secretly Smuggling Solar Panels Domestically to North Korean Operatives

Busan Police Agency Sends Case to Prosecutors on Charges of Violating National Security Law

A man in his 50s who contacted North Korean agents and secretly smuggled domestically produced solar power equipment to North Korea has been arrested by the police and is under investigation by the authorities.

The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency's Security Investigation Unit announced on the 29th that they arrested Mr. A last August on charges of violating the National Security Act for smuggling about 1,560 domestically produced solar power devices to North Korea from August 2015 to July 2016 and have been investigating the case.

The police stated that the case was forwarded to the Busan District Prosecutors' Office in October last year and that they cannot disclose detailed investigation information.

According to the authorities and sources, North Korea's main department for operations against the South, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, mobilized agents to contact Mr. A and smuggled domestic solar power equipment. This is reportedly the first time the Reconnaissance General Bureau has been caught systematically smuggling domestically produced solar power materials.

Mr. A is suspected of meeting several times with North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau agents in China and communicating via email to smuggle about 1,500 solar power devices to North Korea. The Busan District Prosecutors' Office, which received the case from the police, is currently summoning Mr. A for questioning and is expected to indict him soon.

The Reconnaissance General Bureau agents deliberately approached Mr. A, who was trading with a Chinese trading company, built a relationship by proposing daily necessities transactions, and later proposed a deal involving domestic solar power products worth around 10 billion won.

After some of the products were traded, the North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau reportedly cut off contact once they secured the domestic solar power equipment from Mr. A.

During the investigation, Mr. A claimed, "I did not know the trading counterpart was an agent of the North Korean Reconnaissance General Bureau, and I suffered losses because I did not receive full payment after some transactions."

[Image source=Getty Images]

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