14 DAY TRIAL // Won Jeong Hwa, a North Korean woman who posed as a defector, has been sentenced by a South Korean court to five years in prison for espionage. She was arrested in July, because as part of her civic duties to give anti-communism lectures in South Korean military bases, she engaged in a relationship with an officer whom she used to gather intelligence for North Korea.
The media compared Won Jeong Hwa to the renowned World Word I exotic dancer spy, Margaretha Geertruida "Grietje" Zelle, also known as Mata Hari. The 35-year-old North Korean woman gave a total of 52 lectures around military camps in South Korea as part of her obligations as a defector. The authorities started to suspect her of being a spy during one of her lectures as she favored Pyongyang (the North Korean capital) in her speech.
Further investigations revealed that she was involved in a relationship with a South Korean army officer whom she used to gather classified information. When arrested, the business cards and photos of 23 army officers were found amongst her belonging. The South Korean investigators also claimed that she was planning to assassinate South Korean intelligence officers by using poisoned needles.
During the investigation, the North Korean officials tried to deny their involvement by denigrating Won and calling her “human scum”; however, it has been speculated that the information she gathered was responsible for the North Korean spyware attacks that targeted the computer systems of several South Korean officers a few months ago.
Won faced life in prison because the prosecutors had a strong case. They even presented pictures of scars on Won's body, which they claimed she got during commando training in North Korea. She was eventually sentenced to five years as she confessed and asked for leniency. The court also took into consideration the fact that she has to provide for her seven-year-old daughter.
The South Koreans recently blamed their communist neighbors to the north for compromising the computer networks of two of their major military equipment manufacturers. Complex spyware was found on the networks of LIGNex1 and Hyundai Heavy Industries earlier this month and blueprints of missiles and the country's first Aegis ship could have been stolen.