The official Tass news agency reported on the 11th (local time) that, for the first time ever, a Korean was detained in Russia on espionage charges while Russia is posing a direct security threat to South Korea due to illegal arms trade between North Korea and Russia. If a Korean national is judicially processed in Russia, diplomatic relations with Russia, which is close to North Korea and at odds with South Korea, are expected to worsen further.
According to the TASS news agency, the Lefortovo Court in Moscow extended the detention period for Baek, a Korean national who was detained in Vladivostok while being investigated on charges of espionage, by three months. This court said, “We have decided to extend Mr. Baek’s detention period until June 15th.”
Mr. Baek was detained in Vladivostok, Far East, early this year, and was transferred to Moscow at the end of February and placed in the Lefortovo Pretrial Detention Center. The court hearing for Mr. Baek was held in private.
According to an investigative authority official, Mr. Baek is suspected of passing on information that is a national secret to a foreign intelligence agency. The details of criminal case documents targeting foreigners are not known because security is so tight that they are marked as ‘top secret.’ For this reason, it appears that the news of Mr. Baek’s detention became known belatedly.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter Evan Gershkovic, an American journalist who was previously arrested in Russia on charges of espionage and has been imprisoned without trial for nearly a year, is also imprisoned in Reporttovo Prison.
As Russia’s judicial control is also being strengthened ahead of the Russian presidential election to be held on the 15th to 17th, attention is being paid to whether this will affect Baek’s judicial processing. If Russia charges Mr. Baek with espionage and indicts him, the possibility that he will be sentenced to heavy punishment cannot be ruled out.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is seeking a fifth term in this presidential election, is showing his intention to virtually lay the foundation for life-long rule through an overwhelming presidential election victory. Already on the 16th of last month, his biggest political enemy, Alexei Navalny, died mysteriously, which tightened the control of the Russian authorities. Russia refers to Korea as an ‘unfriendly country’ because Korea participated in Western sanctions against Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.