{"id":2204233,"date":"2024-03-13T08:00:21","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T23:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2204233"},"modified":"2024-03-12T17:04:34","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T08:04:34","slug":"russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia arrests South Korean over alleged espionage, ties likely to sour further"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A South Korean national identified as Baek has been arrested in Russia on suspicion of espionage, Russian state-run news agency <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TASS <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reported. South Korea\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment in detail but confirmed on Tuesday that it has provided consular assistance to Baek since learning of his detention and is currently communicating with Moscow through a bilateral diplomatic channel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TASS <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and South Korean media reports, Baek, reportedly a missionary who works to rescue North Korean refugees, was detained \u201cearlier this year\u201d in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok and later transferred to Moscow\u2019s Lefortovo detention center for further investigation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The arrest marks the first time a South Korean citizen has been detained in Russia on espionage charges. The Lefortovo District Court of Moscow has extended Baek\u2019s detention until June 15, according to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/mos-gorsud.ru\/rs\/lefortovskij\/services\/cases\/criminal-materials\/details\/2d84f390-dbb7-11ee-be7f-b5a10b802fd1?participant=%D0%9F%D1%8D%D0%BA\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">court documents<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Baek could be sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted under Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Why It Matters<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The arrest of a South Korean national on espionage charges in Russia could further strain the already chilled relations between Seoul and Moscow. Diplomatic ties soured after Russia\u2019s designation of South Korea as an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/04\/russian-threats-of-reprisal-if-south-korea-arms-ukraine-likely-bluster-experts\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cunfriendly\u201d nation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in March 2022, following Seoul\u2019s support for international sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. The increasing arms cooperation between Russia and North Korea, including reports of Russia using <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/2024\/02\/russia-again-uses-north-korean-missiles-to-strike-ukrainian-city-police\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">North Korean missiles in Ukraine<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un visiting multiple facilities related to Russia\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/2023\/09\/kim-jong-un-meets-vladimir-putin-at-spaceport-in-russian-far-east\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">space<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/2023\/09\/how-kim-jong-un-could-bolster-air-force-by-visiting-russian-aviation-factory\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">naval<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> forces, have further <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/02\/why-local-politics-will-prevent-yoon-suk-yeol-from-sending-weapons-to-ukraine\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">complicated<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> South Korea\u2019s foreign policy toward Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Korea\u2019s reliance on Russia for a significant portion of its <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/12\/how-south-korea-balances-its-energy-trade-with-russia-amid-western-sanctions\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">energy needs<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, including coal, gas, wood pellets and uranium, complicates the situation. Any deterioration in bilateral relations could potentially jeopardize South Korea\u2019s energy security, forcing the country to seek alternative sources.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The resolution of the espionage case and the treatment of Baek by Russian authorities will likely have a significant impact on the future trajectory of ROK-Russia ties. If Moscow treats him in a manner that Seoul perceives as unjust or politically motivated, it could lead to a further downgrade in diplomatic relations and potentially trigger retaliatory measures, such as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/12\/south-koreas-export-controls-provoke-russian-threat-of-retaliation\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">further expanding its export ban<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-tags\"><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/inter-korean-foreign-relations\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Inter-Korean &amp; Foreign Relations<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A South Korean national identified as Baek has been arrested in Russia on suspicion of espionage, Russian state-run news agency TASS reported. South Korea\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment in detail but confirmed on Tuesday that it has provided consular assistance to Baek since learning of his detention and is currently communicating with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10407,"featured_media":2204234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[28],"class_list":["post-2204233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-briefings","tag-inter-korean-foreign-relations"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Russia arrests South Korean over alleged espionage, ties likely to sour further - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Russia arrests South Korean over alleged espionage, ties likely to sour further - KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A South Korean national identified as Baek has been arrested in Russia on suspicion of espionage, Russian state-run news agency TASS reported. South Korea\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment in detail but confirmed on Tuesday that it has provided consular assistance to Baek since learning of his detention and is currently communicating with [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nknewsorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-12T23:00:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-12T08:04:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/eb-6.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1870\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"johnleenknews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@southkoreapro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@southkoreapro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"KOREA PRO\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"johnleenknews\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b9766dba611638edc06a6e0b7078714d\"},\"headline\":\"Russia arrests South Korean over alleged espionage, ties likely to sour further\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-12T23:00:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-12T08:04:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/\"},\"wordCount\":386,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/eb-6.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Inter-Korean &amp; Foreign Relations\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Briefings\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/\",\"name\":\"Russia arrests South Korean over alleged espionage, ties likely to sour further - KOREA PRO\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/eb-6.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-12T23:00:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-12T08:04:34+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/eb-6.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/eb-6.png\",\"width\":1870,\"height\":1000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Russia arrests South Korean over alleged espionage, ties likely to sour further\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/\",\"name\":\"KOREA PRO\",\"description\":\"Be smart about South Korea. Up-to-date analysis on foreign relations, politics, society and economy. Made by the producers of NK PRO and NK News.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"KOREA PRO\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2022\/11\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2022\/11\/logo.png\",\"width\":360,\"height\":50,\"caption\":\"KOREA PRO\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nknewsorg\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/southkoreapro\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Russia arrests South Korean over alleged espionage, ties likely to sour further - KOREA PRO","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Russia arrests South Korean over alleged espionage, ties likely to sour further - KOREA PRO","og_description":"A South Korean national identified as Baek has been arrested in Russia on suspicion of espionage, Russian state-run news agency TASS reported. South Korea\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment in detail but confirmed on Tuesday that it has provided consular assistance to Baek since learning of his detention and is currently communicating with [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/","og_site_name":"KOREA PRO","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nknewsorg\/","article_published_time":"2024-03-12T23:00:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-12T08:04:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1870,"height":1000,"url":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/eb-6.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"johnleenknews","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@southkoreapro","twitter_site":"@southkoreapro","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"KOREA PRO","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/"},"author":{"name":"johnleenknews","@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b9766dba611638edc06a6e0b7078714d"},"headline":"Russia arrests South Korean over alleged espionage, ties likely to sour further","datePublished":"2024-03-12T23:00:21+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-12T08:04:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/"},"wordCount":386,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/eb-6.png","keywords":["Inter-Korean &amp; Foreign Relations"],"articleSection":["Briefings"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/","url":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/","name":"Russia arrests South Korean over alleged espionage, ties likely to sour further - KOREA PRO","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/eb-6.png","datePublished":"2024-03-12T23:00:21+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-12T08:04:34+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/eb-6.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/03\/eb-6.png","width":1870,"height":1000},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/03\/russia-arrests-south-korean-over-alleged-espionage-ties-likely-to-sour-further\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Russia arrests South Korean over alleged espionage, ties likely to sour further"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/","name":"KOREA PRO","description":"Be smart about South Korea. Up-to-date analysis on foreign relations, politics, society and economy. Made by the producers of NK PRO and NK News.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#organization","name":"KOREA PRO","url":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2022\/11\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2022\/11\/logo.png","width":360,"height":50,"caption":"KOREA PRO"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nknewsorg\/","https:\/\/x.com\/southkoreapro"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2204233"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10407"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2204233"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2204233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2204235,"href":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2204233\/revisions\/2204235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2204234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2204233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2204233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2204233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}