SANTA MONICA MAN ARRESTED FOR FAILING TO REGISTER AS AN AGENT OF A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT

FBI--Los Angeles

For Immediate Release

February 5, 2003

SANTA MONICA MAN ARRESTED FOR FAILING TO

REGISTER AS AN AGENT OF A FOREIGN GOVERNMENT

A Santa Monica man was arrested yesterday for failing to register as an agent of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), as required by U.S. law.

John Joungwoong Yai, 59, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was taken into custody yesterday without incident by Special Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In a criminal complaint unsealed today in United States District Court in Los Angeles, Yai is accused of operating within the United States at the direction and control of North Korean officials. He is also charged with making fraudulent and false statements to a representative of the United States Customs Service and conspiring to make such statements.

According to the affidavit, between December 1997 and April 2000, Yai acted in the United States as an agent for the North Korean government and was paid for his services. He was tasked by North Korean officials to obtain classified information and to identify and recruit other agents to meet with North Korean officials abroad.

Yai 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.

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 an official of the United States Customs Service that they were not carrying more than $10,000 in U.S. currency. In fact, a search revealed that they were carrying $18,179.

Yai is expected to make his initial appearance at 2:00 p.m. in Courtroom 341 of the Roybal Federal Building, 255 East Temple, downtown Los Angeles. Yai faces a maximum 20-year sentence in federal prison if convicted.

Yai's wife, Susan Youngja Yai, is also charged with making and conspiring to make fraudulent and false statements within the jurisdiction of the United States. She will receive a summons to appear in federal court at a later date.

This investigation is ongoing to determine whether Yai's actions posed any threat to the national security of the United States.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this case with assistance from the United States Customs Service.

CONTACT: FBI Press Office (310) 996-3341, (310) 996-3342, (310) 996-3343