Chinese student gets prison for illegally filming Busan naval base, U.S. carrier

A Chinese student has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for illegally using a drone to film military facilities, including a U.S. aircraft carrier, near a naval base in Busan, South Korea. The court found the student, identified as 'Mr. A,' guilty of violating laws related to general espionage and military base protection.

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I was only filming out of interest in military culture and had no intention of harming South Korea's military interests or security.

Prosecutors accused the student and another individual, 'Mr. B,' of flying a drone near the Busan Naval Operations Command and filming various military assets, including the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, on multiple occasions between March 2023 and June 2024. The footage was allegedly posted on Chinese social media platforms.

During the trial, Mr. A claimed he was merely interested in military culture and had no intention of harming South Korea's national security or interests. He argued that warships and aircraft carriers are not classified as military facilities themselves. However, the court rejected this argument, stating that filming military bases was sufficient to constitute a violation, regardless of the status of the vessels docked within them.

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Warships or aircraft carriers are not military facilities. However, filming the military base is a conviction, so we do not acquit separately.

The Busan District Court emphasized that the unauthorized filming of military facilities posed a significant risk to South Korea's military interests by potentially exposing sensitive information. While acknowledging that there was no evidence the captured images were leaked to hostile nations or organizations, the court imposed the sentence, with Mr. B receiving a one-year sentence suspended for two years. The court cited the potential danger to national security as a key factor in its sentencing.

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The defendants filmed military facilities without permission. They caused significant risk to the Republic of Korea's military interests by exposing military facility information.