Russia Detains a South Korean on Spy Charges for the First Time

Jon Herskovitz and Soo-Hyang Choi
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Russia has taken a South Korean national into custody on espionage charges for the first time, adding to the strains between the two nations.

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The South Korean man with the family name of Baek was detained in Vladivostok, Russia’s official Tass news agency reported late Monday. A law enforcement official who was not named said Baek gave top secret information to foreign intelligence agencies, Tass reported, adding this is the first detention of its kind.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it has been providing support to the man since the detention and declined to comment further on details of the case because an investigation was ongoing. “Our government expects our citizen to return to his family at an early date and we are having necessary communication with the Russian side for this,” ministry spokesman Lim Soo-suk told a regular briefing Tuesday.

Friction between Russia and South Korea has risen in recent months as Seoul accused North Korea of shipping millions of rounds of artillery and ballistic missiles to Russia to help President Vladimir Putin in his assault on Ukraine.

In return, Russia has been sending North Korea food, raw materials and parts used in weapons manufacturing, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik told reporters last month. The food aid has helped North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stabilize prices for necessities, Shin said. He added that if the arms transfers expand, Russia could send more military technology to Kim, helping Pyongyang’s ability to threaten the region.

Soon after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, South Korea took the rare step of imposing export controls against Moscow, restricting purchases of items including semiconductors, computers, communications and navigation equipment. Seoul also joined other nations in blocking certain Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment system.

Russia supplied about 6% of South Korea’s crude oil imports in 2021 before Putin’s invasion, according to the US Energy Information Administration. South Korea hasn’t imported Russian crude since November 2022, according to data from Korea National Oil Corp.

--With assistance from Heesu Lee.

(Updates with comment from South Korean Foreign Ministry in third paragraph.)

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