October 25-2013
A South Korean man has been secretly jailed by Iran for the past year on charges of espionage, it was revealed last Thursday.
Assorted Europeans and North Americans have been jailed as spies over the years, but this is the first known instance of a Korean being so charge.
The Korean government has never said anything about the case. And Iran never announced the arrest, trial or conviction of the Korean man, who was identified as Kim Heo-ruj, 43. The story only came out when an opposition legislator in Seoul complained in Parliament that the government wasn’t doing enough to free the man.
When questioned by The Korean Herald, the Iranian embassy confirmed that a Korean man was being held in Tehran and that Korea and Iran have been discussing his case.
The Herald said the man was arrested in October 2012 taking photos of “sensitive security sites,” including police stations, foreign embassies and border areas. It wasn’t explained why those were “sensitive security sites.”
There was no suggestion as to whom the Korean was spying on behalf of.
The Herald said the Iranian embassy told it that Iranian and Korean officials had been working on the case for two or three months and “we reached a point for a very positive result.” The diplomat said the Korean “spy” would be freed on appeal “after proper judicial proceedings take place.” The diplomat didn’t say how a diplomat would know the outcome of a court case before the judges.
The Herald said the Iranian embassy told it the convicted spy had lived in the United Kingdom for 12 years and then traveled to Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Turkey before entering Iran.