44 Saturday April 30 2022 | the times
Wo r l d
A South Korean army captain and a
businessman have been accused of
stealing military secrets for North
Korea.
The pair, arrested in Seoul yesterday,
are alleged to have been working
together and paid in cryptocurrency by
a North Korean agent.
Seoul police said it was the first time
that a “civilian and an active-duty mili-
tary captain were caught trying to
obtain military secrets at the behest of
a North Korean agent”.
The army captain, 29, is accused of
handing over log-in details for South
Korea’s Joint Command and Control
System, an internal military communi-
cations network, while the business-
man, 38, is suspected of obtaining a
hacking device called “Poison Tap” to
access the same network.
The businessman is said to have
given the captain a watch with a hidden
camera for intelligence gathering on
China has reinforced its military ties
with Iran in preparation for a possible
showdown with the United States.
The countries agreed to closer mili-
tary co-operation on Wednesday when
Wei Fenghe, the Chinese defence min-
ister, met President Raisi in Tehran.
Wei is the highest-ranking Chinese
official to visit Iran since the two sides
signed a 25-year agreement last year to
improve bilateral ties. China’s state
South Korean army captain
accused of spying for Kim
the orders of the North Korean agent.
He was allegedly paid about $600,000
worth of cryptocurrency after meeting
the agent six years ago. The army cap-
tain had allegedly received less than
$38,000.
According to Seoul police, the North
Korean spy recruited the businessman
via an online cryptocurrency commu-
nity and the two communicated on Tel-
egram, the secure messaging platform.
This week Kim Jong-un, the North
Korean leader, called on his country’s
military to “bolster up their strength in
every way to annihilate the enemy”, as
satellite imagery showed increased
preparations for a possible nuclear test.
Kim made the remarks after a mas-
sive military parade marking the 90th
anniversary of the army’s founding.
Photos released by state media
showed him perched on a white horse
and wearing a white, military-style
tunic with gold trim as he reviewed the
troops. Monday’s parade featured the
North’s latest missiles, including its
largest intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM), the Hwasong-17, and a recently
tested hypersonic missile. Vowing to
ramp up the nation’s nuclear weapons
development programme, Kim said
that the display demonstrated the
“modernity, heroism and radical devel-
opment of the armed forces of the
Republic and their matchless military
and technological superiority”, accord-
ing to the state news agency KCNA.
North Korea says it opposes war and
that its weapons are for self-defence but
at Monday’s parade Kim said the
mission of its nuclear force went
beyond deterrence to defending the
nation’s “fundamental interests”.
Last month North Korea resumed
testing its largest ICBMs and there are
signs that it could soon test a nuclear
weapon for the first time since 2017.
Analysts and South Korean and US
officials believe the North could be
restoring Tunnel No 3 at its Punggye-ri
nuclear test site. This was used for
underground nuclear blasts before
being closed in 2018 amid denuclearisa-
tion talks with America and the South.South Korea
Gavin Blair To k y o
Hong Kong’s
next leader
talks tough
Hong Kong
Didi Tang Beijing
Hong Kong’s next leader has vowed to
enact a controversial security law that
would introduce even stricter rules on
the territory.
John Lee, 64, a former top police
officer and security chief, presented his
44-page campaign manifesto yester-
day.
He is expected to be appointed Hong
Kong’s chief executive by a committee
of 1,500 Beijing loyalists next month —
he is the only candidate.
Lee said his manifesto would guide
his attempt to restore Hong Kong’s
sheen when he takes over from Carrie
Lam, 64, on July 1, the 25th anniversary
of the city’s handover to China by Brit-
ain. Despite his campaign slogan of
“starting a new chapter for Hong Kong
together”, Lee’s policies suggest little
change from the Beijing-directed
course.
He was a key figure in the suppres-
sion of democracy protests and is
among 11 senior Hong Kong and Bei-
jing officials sanctioned by the United
States. He vowed that a host of national
security crimes would be created via
local legislation, known as Article 23,
bolstering the sweeping law Beijing im-
posed on Hong Kong in 2020 to quash
dissent.
The national security law bans the
crimes of subversion, separation, ter-
rorism and collusion with foreign
forces. The local security law would
cover treason, state secrets and political
activities by local and foreign entities.
Article 23 legislation has long been un-
popular with Hong Kong residents,
who in 2003 demonstrated against an
effort by Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong’s
first chief executive after the 1997 hand-
over, to introduce such a law.China and Iran strengthen military ties
media has said that both countries face
“intensifying hostility” from the US.
China, the world’s second-largest
economy, views America as the biggest
obstacle to its rise as a superpower. It
has allied with Russia while building
partnerships in Latin America and
seeking a bigger role in the Middle East.
This year it and the Gulf countries
agreed to establish a strategic partner-
ship and work on a free-trade deal. It
also announced plans to mediate
between Iran and the Gulf nations.
Hua Liming, a former Chineseambassador to Iran, told the party-run
Global Times that China and Iran were
becoming closer because of the US.
“Both China and Iran are targets of US
hegemony,” Hua said. “I think this is the
most important common language
between the two countries.” He called
China’s military co-operation with Iran
unprecedented. Li Weijian, vice-presi-
dent of the Chinese Association of Mid-
dle East Studies, told the newspaper
that Wei’s visit came as the US con-
tinued to instigate regional tensions
such as the Ukraine crisis.China
Didi Tang
Call for action after
3,000 refugees die
Switzerland More than 3,000
people trying to reach Europe
died or went missing in the
Mediterranean or Atlantic last
year, double the number in 2020,
the United Nations said. The UN
refugee agency called for urgent
action to reduce the rising toll.
The report found that 3,077
people were lost trying to reach
Europe last year, up from 1,544 in- A total of 1,924 people were
believed to have died in the
Mediterranean while the rest
perished trying to reach the
Canary Islands. Shabia Mantoo, a
UN official, said: “Most of the sea
crossings took place in packed,
unseaworthy inflatable boats,
many of which capsized.” (AFP)
Turkish and Greek spat
over airspace violation
Turkey The security forces said
Greek warplanes violated Turkish
airspace over the Aegean Sea
30 times in 72 hours. Tanju Bilgic,
the foreign ministry spokesman,
accused Greece of “provocative
flights in close proximity to the
Turkish coast” violating airspace.
He said Turkey had reciprocated,
which Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the
Greek prime minister, referred to
as “overflying dangerously”. (AFP)Missing Japanese tour
boat found on seabed
Japan The hull of a tour boat was
located by underwater cameras
on the seabed off northern Japan
six days after an accident that
killed at least 14 people. The
Kazu I went missing on Saturday,
several hours after departing for a
tour. The 26 on board included
two children and two crew.
Fourteen bodies were recovered,
the coastguard said, and the rest
were unaccounted for. (Reuters)Warlord acquitted of
atrocities in Liberia
Finland A warlord has been
acquitted of atrocities in Liberia’s
second civil war, including rape,
ritual murder and recruiting child
soldiers. Gibril Massaquoi, 52,
who moved to Finland in 2008
and was arrested in 2020, said
he was not in Liberia at the
relevant time. The Pirkanmaa
court ruled that the prosecution
had not proven its case “with
sufficient certainty”. (AFP)Zuma ‘let his cronies
plunder state assets’
South Africa Jacob Zuma, South
Africa’s former president, let
cronies help themselves to the
money and assets of the people, a
corruption inquiry has found. The
Gupta family enrolled Zuma in a
looting plot as his “character was
such they could use him against
the people”, Raymond Zondo, the
chief justice, found. Hundreds of
testimonies were heard. A final
report is due in June.Paris removes electric
buses after second fire
France Paris transport officials
have suspended 149 electric
buses, almost a third of the city’s
fleet, after the second fire in a
month. In the latest incident, the
driver evacuated the bus and the
fire brigade put out the flames.
Witnesses reported thick black
smoke and the smell of burning
plastic but no one was hurt. The
suspended models are Bluebus
5SEs made by Bolloré. (AFP)Race day Kitefoilers compete during French Olympic Week at Hyères on the Mediterranean. The sport will be included in the Olympics for the first time at Paris 2024
JOHNNY FIDELIN/ICON SPORT/GETTY IMAGES