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Taiwanese arrested for suspected dealings with North Korea

ROC Central News Agency

2013/05/07 16:45:57

Taipei, May 7 (CNA) Two Taiwanese men have been arrested in the United States and Estonia for trying to export weapons machinery to North Korea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Tuesday.

Ministry officials posted overseas are trying to learn more about the case and visit the two men, said Bruce Linghu, director-general of the ministry's Department of North American Affairs.

Linghu said a representative from Taiwan's office in Latvia has met with the man arrested in Estonia, but that Foreign Ministry officials have not yet been able to see the man arrested in the Chicago area.

Tsai Hsien-tai, who is believed to reside in Taiwan, was arrested in Estonia last Wednesday, while his son Tsai Yueh-hsun, a U.S. resident, was arrested at his home in Glenview, Illinois on the same day, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago on May 6.

In a detention hearing on Monday, the judge agreed to release the younger Tsai on a US$500,000 bond, but he will be confined to his home and electronically monitored, the Associated Press reported.

U.S. authorities are trying to extradite the elder Tsai, who is being detained in Estonia, to the U.S. for judicial proceedings, Linghu said. But he declined to provide further details on the case.

The two men each face one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. in its enforcement of laws and regulations prohibiting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and one count of money laundering, the U.S. Attorney's Office statement read.

The count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, while violating the economic powers act and money laundering laws each carries a maximum of 20 years in jail, the statement said.

The federal complaint did not provide details on the machines that were allegedly offered or the weapons systems they could have benefited.

According to the Associated Press, the attorney for the younger Tsai called the machinery 'unsophisticated' and the business transaction 'rather benign.'

The two men have previously been linked to selling North Korea items for its advanced weapons program, according to AP.

(By Elaine Hou)
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