Case of alleged South Korean spy in Russia ‘won’t be settled soon’ amid decaying Moscow-Seoul ties

TASS on Monday reported that Baek Won-soon, later corrected as Baek Kwang-soon, was arrested in Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East earlier this year, is the first South Korean to be jailed on espionage charges in Russia.

Baek, 53, allegedly passed classified information including “top secret” materials to unspecified foreign intelligence services, it said.

The pastor, head of the philanthropic body, who identified himself only as “Centurion”, said Baek was aiding North Korean workers as well as other displaced foreigners in dire conditions.

“We hope the South Korean government will do its best to bring him home at the earliest possible date”, he said.

South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency said the missionary had been engaged in rescuing North Korean defectors, providing humanitarian aid, and ministering to individuals in Russia’s Far East, which hosts North Korean workers, mostly loggers.

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The rare arrest came as relations between Seoul and Moscow have continued to deteriorate, while ties between Moscow and Pyongyang have grown closer.

“I am afraid this issue won’t be settled in the short term as Russia, in a departure from past practices, went public with it”, Wi Sung-lac, former South Korean ambassador to Russia, told This Week in Asia.

Russia has not taken any measures in the past beyond expelling the persons involved.

In 1998, South Korea and Russia reportedly expelled each other’s suspected spies. In 2008, Russia kicked out a South Korean diplomat, and another one in 2009.

After Baek’s arrest by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), he was transferred to Moscow in late February for further investigation, according to TASS.

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