South Korean media reported on 9 June (Saturday) that Ryu Song Chol and Ri Tae Kil, two DPRK nationals, were arrested by Ukranian authorities in July 2011 while photographing academic dissertations on rocket engine system technologies at Yuzhnoye Design Bureau.  Ryu and Ri, who worked at the DPRK’s trade office in Belarus, were convicted and sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment.  Mainichi Shimbun reports:

The North Koreans, identified as Ryu Song Chul and Lee Tae Kil, were arrested for spying in July after they tried to steal classified technology from the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnipropetrovsk. The sentence was handed down by a Ukrainian court late last month.

The design bureau is in charge of rocket and satellite development and was responsible for making R-36M multi-warhead intercontinental ballistic missile, which has the 11,000-kilometer range, during the Soviet era.

Ukraine’s Security Service, which carried out the arrest, said the two worked at North Korea’s trade representative office in Minsk, Belarus, but had made contact with a researcher at Yuzhnoye.

It said the researcher had notified authorities of the contact and helped set up a trap where the two were apprehended as they took photos of the classified data.

The technology that the two North Korean sought was centered on rocket vehicles and in particular liquid fuel engine systems that could greatly increase the range of a rocket.

Local experts said that if Pyongyang secured the technology, it would have helped it build rockets that could reach the continental United States.

The source, meanwhile, said the two men pleaded innocent of all charges and plan to file an appeal to a higher court.

DPRK Ambassador Kim Son Gyong (L) presents his credentials to the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bakir Izetbegovic (R) (Photo: Office of the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina)

ONASA reported on 15 May (Tuesday) that Bakir Izetbegovic, President of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Chairman of the Presidency), met with and accepted a letter of credence from Kim Son Gyong (Kim So’n-kyo’ng) who was recently appointed ambassador.  According to the country’s news agency, Kim and Izetbegovic discussed “the possibilities of improved cooperation between the two countries with an emphasis on economic and cultural relations.”  Kim is resident ambassador in Romania.  This represents a slight shift in the DPRK’s diplomatic missions in eastern Europe, as the previous ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina was resident in Bulgaria.  In the spring of 2011, the DPRK established a small trade presence in Bosnia, and extended members of the Kim Family reside in Bosnia, including a grandson of Kim Jong Il’s who attends an international school south of the capital Sarajevo.

President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bakir Izetbegovic (L) poses for a photograph with DPRK Ambassador Kim Son Gyong (R) (Photo: Office of the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina)

DPRK Ambassador Hyon Hak Bong (File photo: Laura Hutton/Photocall)

Meanwhile, Hyon Hak Bong (resident in the UK) presented his credentials to Albert II, King of Belgium, on 9 May.  KCNA reports:

The king said though Belgium and the DPRK are far away from each other geographically, they have great potential to cooperate in various fields, adding that Belgium hopes for further development of the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries.

He also expressed hope that the tensions would be defused on the Korean Peninsula and the north-south relations would improve