South Korean detained in Russia getting consular assistance

SEOUL: A South Korean national held in Russia is receiving “necessary consular assistance”, Seoul’s foreign ministry said yesterday, after he was detained on suspicion of espionage.

The ministry declined to give details on the detention, citing an ongoing investigation.

“Upon learning of the arrest, the local diplomatic mission has been providing necessary consular assistance,” the South Korean ministry said.

Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported this week that a South Korean man had been detained earlier this year on suspicion of espionage.

TASS, which said the case was “top secret”, identified the suspect as Baek Won-soon and said he had been picked up in Russia’s far-eastern city of Vladivostok.

“According to a TASS source in law enforcement agencies, Baek Won Soon passed state secret information to foreign intelligence services,” the agency said.

TASS said it was the first time Russia had arrested a South Korean citizen for criminal espionage.

Baek was transported from Vladivostok to Moscow for further investigation and is being held in the capital’s notorious Lefortovo prison, the Russian news agency added.

The prison, known for keeping detainees in near-total solitude also currently houses US reporter Evan Gershkovich, held on spying charges that he denies.

Espionage carries a maximum jail term of 20 years in Russia.

Baek was a missionary working with North Korean lumberjacks in Russia, and may have helped people “flee” the repressive regime, South Korean media has reported.

In Russia, espionage is “often being interpreted very widely,” Vladimir Tikhonov, professor of Korea studies at the University of Oslo, told AFP. “This unfortunate South Korean in this case is being used as a bargaining chip between Moscow and Seoul,” he said.