Chinese Citizen Arrested Twice For Taking Photos Near US Air Base

Two A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter aircraft from 25th Fighter Squadron prepare to land at Osan Air Base (Wikimedia Commons/US Air Force/Capt. Robert Howard)

JAKARTA - Two Chinese nationals have been arrested by South Korean security forces twice, for taking photos near the United States military airbase in the country twice this week at the same location.

South Korean police arrested two Chinese nationals on Wednesday for recording US fighter jets near US airbase, after two days earlier being arrested carrying out the same activity at the same location.

According to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, the US Army reported both, whose names were not mentioned, after seeing them taking photos near Osan Air Base, the major US military installation in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

Police arrested both of them and confirmed they were arrested in the same area for the same thing on Monday, quoted from The Korea Times April 24.

At that time, the police coordinated with the National Intelligence Agency and the Defense Counterintelligence Command, found no signs of espionage and closed the case just eight hours after the two were arrested.

A similar conclusion was reached in Wednesday's incident. Both were reportedly released without charge after police confirmed no law was violated, as they only photographed planes in the sky.

Based on current law, taking photos of planes flying outside the designated security zone is not a criminal act.

This is not the first time Chinese citizens have been caught photographing military facilities in Ginseng Country.

Earlier this month, two teenagers from the Bamboo Curtain Country were arrested on suspicion of illegally photographing fighter jets while taking off and landing using cameras and smartphones.

They were arrested by police in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, which is home to the 10th Fighter Wing of the Air Force of the Republic of Korea.

The base plays an important role in maintaining airspace over the Seoul metropolitan area by operating fighter jets including KF-5.

Authorities later found the two Chinese teenagers taking thousands of photos not only there, but also in four major South Korean and US military facilities, including Osan Air Base, fungish Camp in Pyeongtaek, and Air Force base in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.

Police said one of the teenagers admitted his father worked for China's public security bureau.

While no evidence has emerged to confirm the involvement of the Chinese government, even if there is, prosecutions based on espionage allegations will be difficult in these cases.

It is known that espionage can be sentenced to death, life imprisonment, or at least seven years in prison in South Korea, but only if the action is carried out for the enemy. Under the law, the term exclusively refers to North Korea.

In order for a country to be legally recognized as an enemy state, the country must be in a state of war with South Korea, a condition that only applies to North Korea, because the two Koreas are technically still at war since fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War ended with a ceasefire agreement and not a peace agreement.

This means that espionage on behalf of other countries, including China, is not subject to the same charges. This legal loophole confused some experts.

"I don't understand it," Kim Yeoul-soo, a researcher at the Korean Institute of Military Affairs, told The Korea Times.

"Most countries do not mention certain countries under espionage laws," he continued.

He added that this legal loophole allows Chinese citizens to avoid punishment for these actions.

"Our law does not follow developments, and that gap creates opportunities for even more illicit activities," he said.

Calls to revise espionage laws began to strengthen in June, after it was revealed that a civilian worker at the Korean Defense Intelligence Command had leaked South Korean military secrets seven years after being recruited by a ethnic Korean of Chinese nationality.

The liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is taking care of the proposed revision to expand the scope of espionage laws from targeting only enemy countries to cover foreign countries more widely, citing concerns that ambiguous definitions of "state secrets" and "military secrets" could lead to potential abuse.

On Tuesday, lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong, leader of the conservative People's Power Party faction, urged the DPK to actively cooperate in passing the amendment.

Last December, former President Yoon Suk-yeol cited the DPK's opposition to the revision as one of the reasons behind its military emergency declaration.

However, the Constitutional Court later ruled that the claim was baseless, stating that the bill was still under review with alternative proposals being discussed, instead of being directly blocked by the DPK.