South Korean national arrested on espionage charges posed as writer

MOSCOW | TASS |  South Korean national Baek Won-soon, who has been arrested in Russia on charges of espionage, had been posing as a writer and was receiving information constituting state secrets via a messenger app, law enforcement agencies told TASS.

“While probing into the case of Baek Won-soon, investigators established that he told his interlocutor that he was a writer and received information constituting state secrets through one of the [online] messenger services. He was supposed to pass the information on to foreign intelligence services,” the source said. He did not specify what information the South Korean citizen received and which foreign intelligence service he represented, as the case materials contain classified information.

According to Moscow’s Lefortovo Court, Baek Won-soon, 53 and with no criminal record, is a native and citizen of South Korea; he is married with a young child and earned a higher educational degree in his country.

The Yonhap news agency, in turn, said that Baek Won-soon’s wife was also detained, but she was later released without any charges being lodged against her. She has since returned to South Korea.

Classified case

Baek Won-soon was arrested in Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East in early 2024. He was transferred to Moscow in late February and is currently being held in custody at the Lefortovo detention center. On Monday, Moscow’s Lefortovo Court extended his term of detention for three months, until June 15.

According to a law enforcement source, Baek Won-soon passed classified information to foreign intelligence services. The materials in the foreigner’s criminal case were classified as “top secret.”