Graduate Student Sentenced to Probation for Sending Drone to North Korea

A graduate student accused of sending a drone to North Korea without government notification has been sentenced to probation in a first-instance ruling.

The Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 38-3, presided over by Judges Choi Young-gak, Jang Seong-jin, and Jeong Su-young, sentenced the individual, identified as Oh, to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, for violations of the espionage law and the aviation safety law. Two accomplices received six-month prison sentences, also suspended for two years.

The three were charged with sending civilian drones across the military demarcation line (MDL) four times from September last year to January this year to capture images of the North Korean area around Kaesong while evading South Korea's air defense surveillance. Two of the drones reportedly crashed in North Korea and did not return.

The court found them guilty of using drones without permission from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. It determined that the drones exceeded the reporting threshold of 2 kilograms and did not qualify for the exemption for research institutions' testing purposes due to the additional components, including imaging devices.

However, the court acquitted them of espionage charges, stating that there was no evidence proving the drones were equipped with SD cards. The judges explained, "Without proof of an SD card, we cannot conclude that military-sensitive information regarding flight patterns, altitude, or history was leaked to North Korea."

They added, "Even if it provided a pretext for provocations by North Korea or led to military responses from South Korea, it does not necessarily mean that South Korea's military interests were compromised."

During the prosecution's closing arguments on September 2, they sought a five-year prison sentence for Oh and three years for the other two individuals.