Top North Korean Nuclear Researcher Arrested on Spying Charges

According to The Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper based in Seoul, North Korea’s chief nuclear scientist has been arrested on charges of espionage. The senior researcher, Kim So-in, is rumored to have been arrested in May and taken to the Yodok concentration camp. It is also believed that his family was arrested with him.

So-in is believed to have been in charge of North Korea’s nuclear and missile development sector and is given credit by the North Korean state media for the country’s first satellite launch. He is accused of assisting his father, Kim Song-il, in delivering top secret documents on nuclear development to a foreign agency. Song-il was also a nuclear researcher, working at the Yongbyon Nuclear Complex.

So-in’s arrest follows several other high profile detainments in North Korea. Pak Kyong-chol, an official in the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, was also sent to a labor camp for spying. Kim Won-bom, a chief in a North Korean military bureau, was arrested after $1.5 million in U.S. currency was found in his home and a senior official of the Majon Mine was arrested after allegedly selling government information for $100,000.