BUSAN, June 26 (Yonhap) -- Two Chinese men have been arrested for illegally filming a visiting U.S. aircraft carrier and a South Korean naval base in Busan, police said Thursday.
The two, both exchange students at a Busan university in their 30s and 40s, respectively, are accused of flying a drone near the Korean Fleet Command in southern Busan between March 2023 and June 2024 to illegally film the inside of the naval base and the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt.
The 40-something man was arrested on charges of benefiting an enemy by other methods and violating the military base law, the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency said. The police also arrested the 30-something man on charges of violating the military base law and booked a Chinese woman in her 30s without detention on the same charge.
On Wednesday, the Busan District Court issued arrest warrants for the two men, citing the risk of destruction of evidence and fleeing.
It is the first time that a foreigner has been arrested on charges of benefiting an enemy by other methods and violating the military base law, the police said, adding the military authorities also opined that the suspects harmed military interests.
The suspects were caught by soldiers on patrol on a mountain near the Busan naval command on June 25 last year while illegally filming the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, which was visiting to participate in a Korea-U.S.-Japan joint military exercise. At that time, then President Yoon Suk Yeol was visiting the ship to encourage South Korean and American soldiers.
Police have intensively investigated them over the past year after imposing an exit ban on them. Police confirmed the suspects committed illegal filming nine times using a drone and their mobile phones. Their illegal filming content totaled 11.9 GB of 172 photos and 22 videos.
Some of the illegal filming content was distributed to TikTok and other Chinese social media, police said, suspecting the content may also have been transmitted to the Chinese manufacturer of the drone used by the suspects.
An undated EPA file photo shows the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt visiting a South Korean naval base in Busan. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
ycm@yna.co.kr
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