SUWON, South Korea, Aug. 11 (Yonhap) -- Two former Chinese military officers have been arrested for allegedly eavesdropping on communications from fighter jets near a South Korean military base and leaking classified material related to South Korea-U.S. military exercises, police said Tuesday.

One of the suspects, a Chinese national in his 60s, was arrested on suspicions of benefiting the enemy and violating a law on the protection of communications secrets after allegedly making multiple visits to South Korea on a tourist visa and tapping communications between fighter jets and air traffic control towers from a hotel near an airport in the southwestern city of Gunsan, according to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police.

The airport is home to assets belonging to the South Korean and U.S. Air Forces.

Police said the man is believed to have retired after serving many years in China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) and that his visits, which began in January 2024, coincided with periods when regular South Korea-U.S. Air Force exercises took place.

The suspect claimed it was his "hobby" to listen to aircraft communications but police said they plan to look into whether any obtained information was relayed to the Chinese authorities and whether anyone was behind the operation.

Meanwhile, the second suspect, a 45-year-old ethnic Korean with Chinese nationality, was arrested on suspicions of benefiting the enemy and violating a law on the protection of military bases after allegedly recruiting a South Korean woman working at Camp Humphreys, a key U.S. base in Pyeongtaek, some 60 kilometers south of Seoul, to obtain classified material related to allied exercises.

The man allegedly concealed his identity while running a U.S. military supplies store near the base and engaged in the acts from November 2021 until last May as a retired PLA officer.

Under South Korea's criminal code, benefiting the enemy is punishable by life imprisonment or a prison sentence of at least three years.

Violations of the communications secrets protection act are punishable by prison terms of between one and 10 years or a suspension of qualification for up to five years.

Violations of the military base protection act, meanwhile, carry maximum punishments of three years in prison or 30 million won (US$21,200) in fines.

hague@yna.co.kr

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