The US has sentenced a Chinese national to eight years in prison for illegally exporting firearms, ammunition, and other military items to North Korea via Hong Kong in return for US$2 million in payments from Pyongyang “for his efforts”, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.
Taking advantage of lax US gun laws, Shenghua Wen, 42, purchased many of the weapons in Texas and drove them to California, where they were shipped out of the Port of Long Beach, according to court documents. At least one shipment was listed as a refrigerator on export documents.
“Wen is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China who entered the United States in 2012 on a student visa and remained in the US illegally after his student visa expired in December 2013,” the department said.
“Prior to entering the United States, Wen met with officials from North Korea’s government” at two North Korean consulates in China who directed Wen to procure goods on Pyongyang’s behalf, it added.
Wen, who was taken into custody in December, pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. His sentence was handed down on Monday by the US District Court for the Central District of California.
As outlined by the Justice Department, two North Korean officials contacted Wen online in 2022, nearly a decade after Pyongyang made its original contact, and directed him to buy and smuggle US firearms, related goods and sensitive technology to North Korea by way of China.
“Wen stated that he was likely selected to procure goods on behalf of the North Korean government because he was good at smuggling,” according to court documents.
“Wen explained that the money was wired from a bank in China to Hong Kong and then deposited into business and personal bank accounts belonging to Wen’s partner,” identified only as “Individual 1”, the documents said.
Among those he acquired, it said, were some 50,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition primarily used in handguns and submachine guns; equipment used to identify chemical threats; and a handheld broadband receiver to detect illegal, disruptive or jamming signals “ideal for locating hidden eavesdropping devices”, according to the complaint.
“Wen explained that he believed the North Korean government wanted the weapons, ammunition, and other military-related equipment to prepare for an attack against South Korea,” the complaint added, with Pyongyang also requesting military uniforms “which would subsequently be used by the North Korean military to disguise their soldiers to conduct a surprise attack on South Korea”.
Wen also acquired or offered to acquire a civilian aeroplane engine and a thermal imaging system that could be mounted on a drone, helicopter or other aircraft for use in surveillance or identifying targets.
In 2023, Wen reportedly bought the AK5000 Inc weapon company in Houston – described as “Dealer in Firearms Other Than Destructive Devices” – for around US$150,000 paid for with North Korean funds.
That year, he shipped at least three containers of firearms out of Long Beach, including one late in the year that ended up in the North Korean port of Nampo after transhipping through Hong Kong.
Yun Sun, a senior fellow with the Stimson Center, said the case is a bit “bizarre”.
“It is hard to imagine that the firearms and ammo acquired by a single individual could make a major difference for North Korea’s military sector,” she said, adding that this case points to China as a transshipment hub.
“It does point to the loopholes, intended or not, in the customs inspection on the Chinese side. And it does raise questions about China’s complicity in the shipment.”
Wen, who was a resident of Ontario, California, admitted in his plea agreement that he knew it was illegal to ship the goods to North Korea, never obtained the required licences and did not inform Washington that he was acting as an agent for Pyongyang.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment; lawyers with the federal public defenders office, which represented Wen, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Until Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, North Korea was the most heavily sanctioned country on Earth, much of that sanctioning tied to the country’s expanded nuclear weapons programme following Pyongyang’s first nuclear test in 2006.
That saw the UN Security Council ban trade with North Korea, initially heavy conventional weapons such as tanks, warships and combat aircraft and subsequently all arms and related materiel, including light weapons.
Pyongyang has found imaginative workarounds.
“North Korea has become adept at evading sanctions that the international community has imposed on it,” a 2021 Rand study said, adding that in particular it tends to rely on its diplomats, overseas workers, third-party intermediaries and front or shell companies to smuggle material. – SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
