By Sam Chu Lin | Special to AsianWeek
The Los Angeles FBI has arrested 59-year-old John Joungwoong Yai of Santa Monica for failing to register as an agent of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), and his arrest has sent shock waves through the local Korean American community, the largest outside Korea.
Under FBI surveillance for seven years, Yai — a longtime public advocate for the reunification of North and South Korea and a critic of the former military regime in South Korea — was taken into custody without incident on Feb. 3.
He is accused of “operating within the United States at the direction and control of North Korean officials” and with “making fraudulent and false statements to a representative of the United States Custom Service and conspiring to make such statements.”
The criminal complaint unsealed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles alleges that Yai worked as an agent for North Korea between December 1997 and April 2000 and that he “maintained contact with his North Korean handlers through facsimiles, e-mail messages and personal overseas meetings. The communications sent between Yai and his North Korean contacts were written with word substitution codes to conceal the true content of the communications.”
FBI spokesperson Cheryl Mimura believes that Yai was tasked by the North Koreans to obtain classified information.
“To our knowledge, during the investigation, we have not identified him as getting any aspect of top secret or classified information. But he was tasked by them and tasked to recruit others to work with them,” Mimura said.
The affidavit says that in April 2000, “Yai and his spouse traveled to the Czech Republic and Vienna to meet with a North Korean representative. Upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport from Zurich, Switzerland on April 20, 2000, Yai and his spouse declared to U.S. Customs they were not carrying more than $10,000 in U.S. currency.”
The FBI says a search revealed they were carrying $18,179.
At the Santa Monica businessman’s bail hearing on Feb. 7, FBI agent James Chang testified that Yai admitted in a tape-recorded interview following his arrest that he did receive $20,000 from North Korean intelligence officials during his visit to Prague.
Chang added that Yai also acknowledged receiving $2,000 to $5,000 from his North Korean contacts on five other trips to the communist country.
Yai’s admission apparently caught defense attorneys William Genego and Michael Nasatir by surprise. They quickly conferred with their client.
In a phone interview on Feb. 6, Genego said that he “had just signed onto the case and had plenty of catching up to do before making any comment.”
The news of the strained relations between the United States and the two Koreas has been on the mind of local Korean American residents, and many wonder if this arrest has something to do with politics. The United States and North Korea have been involved in verbal saber rattling for weeks over the Pyongyang government’s reactivation of a nuclear power plant and its potential for nuclear weapons proliferation, while South Koreans are angry that two U.S. soldiers were acquitted and not punished for killing two 13-year-old girls in their armored vehicle.
“There are no political reasons for why Yai was arrested now,” responded Mimura.
Jae Min Yoo, a reporter for the Los Angeles offices of the Korea Daily Newspaper, says the Korean American community is truly shocked by this incident.
“People are wondering, ‘Why has Yai been arrested at this, time since he was under observation for so long?’ ” Yoo said. “They’re asking, ‘Is this because of the political situation between the U.S. and the two Koreas?’”
Kyoung Won Kim, a local reporter for Korea Times, echoed those feelings.
“Many people fear that what happened to the Japanese Americans during World War II could also happen to them,” Kim noted. “Yai doesn’t really have the skills to be a spy. He wants reunification and he criticized South Korea long ago when it was under military control. He has been open about the way he feels.”
In his Friday court appearance, it was noted that Yai is a naturalized American citizen. The Santa Monica businessman — who has operated a clothing store, sandwich shop and translation office — was portrayed as a good citizen, a family man with two children. His son Dennis is a UC Berkeley grad and his daughter now attends graduate school at Stanford University.
Genego argued, “This is a failure-to-register case. Mr. Yai is not a spy.”
The attorney said that Yai had only transmitted newspaper articles and other publicly available information to North Korea, adding “that’s not a crime.”
But the defense arguments apparently failed to sway the court. U.S. Magistrate Victor B. Kenton, in summary, stated, “Mr. Yai’s loyalties appear at best to be seriously divided between this country and North Korea.”
Kenton added that Yai posed a flight risk and denied bail, pending trial.
Yai’s wife, Susan Youngja Yai, is also charged with making and conspiring to make fraudulent and false statements. She has not been arrested yet. She is to appear in federal court at a later date.
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