See? I told you there had to be something going on
Was it two weeks ago? I wrote about a case involving a Chinese student who was caught listening in on radio communications between an airport control tower and passenger aircraft.
This is the article.
Looks like my feeling back then that this might be a serious problem wasn’t completely unfounded.
A Chinese man in his 60s, who reportedly spent about 40 years working in an electronic surveillance unit of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, has been indicted and detained on charges including general aiding the enemy for allegedly intercepting military communications between South Korean and U.S. fighter pilots and control towers.
General Aiding the Enemy
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Crime | General Aiding the Enemy |
| Legal basis | Article 99 of the Criminal Act |
| Main provision | Acts that harm South Korea’s military interests or provide military advantages to an enemy state |
| Penalty | Life imprisonment or imprisonment for at least 3 years |
Just looking at the possible punishment, this is far beyond an ordinary criminal offense.
So what exactly did A do in South Korea?
A allegedly collected military communications a total of 13 times from March 2024 to August 2026 at locations including Gunsan in North Jeolla Province, Osan and Gwangju air bases, Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, and a naval base in Busan.
But his main activity was in Gunsan.
Seven of the 13 incidents reportedly targeted Gunsan Air Base.
So why Gunsan?
Gunsan is home to U.S. F-16 fighter jets as well as South Korean Air Force forces.
The United States obviously operates newer fighter aircraft than the F-16.
But the F-16 is widely operated by U.S. allies and is a highly versatile fighter with broad operational use.
In other words, it is still an active fighter aircraft capable of actual combat missions, and Gunsan is a place where a large number of these aircraft are stationed and trained.
That means communications at Gunsan are somewhat different from ordinary airport communications.
They could potentially contain information of significant military value.
So how did he do it?
Was it something straight out of a 007 movie, with him going undercover and using some elaborate spy technique?
No. He simply rented a room at a motel and installed a radio receiver and antennas inside the room.
In fact, there was a motel close enough to Gunsan Air Base that it was also used as a measurement point for aircraft noise from Gunsan Airport.
During the investigation, authorities also found an SDR receiver, antennas, a laptop, and other equipment that A had allegedly used.
But then there was the real problem.
The amount of data.
A staggering 13.9 TB
If we compare it to music, that’s about 3.5 million songs.
Assuming one song is 4 MB, that’s about 3,500,000 songs.
At 3 minutes and 30 seconds per song, it would take
about 34 years to listen to all of it, assuming 16 hours of listening every day after excluding 8 hours of sleep.
If we compare it to movies, that’s roughly 7,000 movies.
Assuming one movie is 2 GB, that’s about 7,000 movies.
At two hours per movie, it would take
about 2 years and 5 months to watch all of them, watching 16 hours every day after excluding 8 hours of sleep.
What on earth was this guy recording?
Could someone higher up have been paying him based on the amount of data?
Unless he deliberately inflated the numbers,
I’m even more curious about what exactly filled up that enormous amount of storage.
After collecting that enormous amount of data over such a long period,
A returned to South Korea in early August 2026, just before the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise.
After tracking him down,
the police caught A red-handed while he was intercepting communications at a motel, bringing the investigation to a successful conclusion.
After being arrested, A reportedly told investigators that it was simply his hobby.
And now, similar cases are starting to pile up.
A Chinese teenager who was caught listening in on communications between an airport control tower and aircraft.
There was also a Chinese national of Korean descent who was running a military supply store back in August. I haven’t covered that case myself.
This man had previously served in a Chinese PLA special forces unit and the Chinese public security authorities.
After coming to South Korea in 2016, he ran a military supply store near Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek and allegedly cultivated relationships with military personnel to obtain military-related materials.
And then there’s A.
Hmm… are we really supposed to just sit back and do nothing about this?