A Chinese national living in Ontario pleaded guilty on Monday, June 9, to scheming to illegally ship weapons to North Korea for use by the secretive communist country’s military in a surprise attack on South Korea.
Shenghua Wen, 42, entered a plea to charges of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and to acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Sentencing was set for Aug. 18 in downtown Los Angeles.
Prosecutors say that Wen and his co-conspirators exported at least two shipments of firearms and ammunition to North Korea two years ago by concealing the items inside containers that were shipped from Long Beach through Hong Kong to North Korea, according to a criminal complaint.
Wen outstayed a student visa in 2012 to remain illegally in the United States.
“The significance of this arrest and discovery of this scheme cannot be overstated,” Akil Davis, the FBI’s Los Angeles assistant director in charge, said in a statement when Wen was arrested in December 2024. “Not only did the investigative team prevent additional restricted items going to the North Korean regime, but (it) gathered valuable intelligence for the United States and our allies.”
On Sept. 6, 2024, federal prosecutors said law enforcement seized about 50,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition that Wen obtained to send to North Korea.
Before leaving China to come to the United States on the student visa, Wen met with North Korean government representatives in China and planned the scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. North Korea subsequently sent him at least $2 million to pay for materials and shipping costs, prosecutors said.
In the U.S., Wen purchased a business to obtain weapons and other items to export to North Korea, prosecutors said. Those items included military uniforms “to help conduct a surprise attack on South Korea,” Wen was told, court papers show.
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