Three Chinese students are under investigation over footage captured by a drone of a United States aircraft carrier and naval facilities in South Korea in June, local police said on Wednesday.
The suspects are aged between 30 and 49 and are studying in Busan, a port city located on the southeastern coast of South Korea, where U.S. Navy aircraft carriers frequently visit.
The Chinese nationals were caught flying a drone toward South Korea’s Naval Operations Command in Busan where aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt was docked on June 25, local police said. They are accused of illegally filming the vessel and military facilities.
The Theodore Roosevelt arrived in Busan with destroyers USS Halsey and USS Daniel Inouye on June 22 for a scheduled port visit, while supporting operational readiness and the alliance between the two countries, according to the U.S. Navy.
SONG KYUNG-SEOK/AFP via Getty Images
The U.S. naval vessels departed on June 26 to take part in a three-day trilateral multi-domain exercise, named Freedom Edge, with forces from South Korea and Japan.
The Chinese suspects in Busan are accused of violating the Enforcement Decree of the Protection of Military Bases and Installations Act. They claimed to local police that they were using the drone to film the American aircraft carrier “out of curiosity.”
Local media said the footage they captured was over five minutes long and comprised a panoramic view of the Theodore Roosevelt and the Naval Operations Command. It was filmed on the same day South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visited the aircraft carrier.
Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Aaron Haro Gonzalez/U.S. Navy
South Korean soldiers who were on patrol at the time spotted the drone. Police in Busan are currently analyzing the suspects’ cell phone call recordings and call histories, according to a local media report.
The U.S. Navy told Newsweek that it deferred to the local authorities in South Korea for comment as they are investigating the incident. The Chinese Embassy in Seoul did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
A similar incident occured earlier this year when drone images of the Japanese aircraft carrier JS Izumo were uploaded to a Chinese social media platform, where the user claimed that they were recorded at Yokosuka naval base.
The Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group departed San Diego for the Western Pacific on January 11. It was diverted to the Red Sea on July 12 to protect commercial shipping.
As of July 16, the aircraft carrier was sailing in the Fifth Fleet area of operations, which encompasses the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean, a U.S. Navy photo showed.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
