Latest news with #Wickr
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Chinese man admits smuggling weapons from US to North Korea
A Chinese man living illegally in the United States has pleaded guilty to exporting guns, ammunition and sensitive military equipment to North Korea. Shenghua Wen was reportedly operating at the direction of the North Korean regime and was paid about $2 million (£1.5 million) for his work over a two-year period. Pictures released by the FBI showed briefcases containing sophisticated electronic equipment, as well as what appeared to be a semi-automatic rifle. Wen arrived in the US on a student visa in 2012, but remained in the country illegally after the visa expired in 2013. He first established contact with North Korean officials at their embassy in China before he moved to the US. These officials 'directed Wen to procure goods on behalf of North Korea', according to the US Department of Justice. In 2022, Wen was approached by two North Korean officials, known as Jin Yong Nan and Cui, over the encrypted messaging platform Wickr and was tasked with acquiring guns and 'sensitive technology' to send from the US to North Korea. The following year, Wen purchased an unspecified number of firearms in Texas, using money provided to him by one of his North Korean contacts, and then carried the guns across state lines to a port in California. The guns were then shipped in three containers from the US to North Korea via Hong Kong, with Wen 'filing false export information regarding the contents of the container', according to prosecutors. One container, which was falsely reported to be carrying refrigerators, successfully arrived in Hong Kong and was later transported 30 miles south-west of Pyongyang to Nampo, the country's largest port. Last year, Wen was again asked by his North Korean contacts to purchase approximately 60,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition, prosecutors said. He also obtained sensitive technology, including a device that can identify chemical threats and a handheld receiver that detects different types of transmissions. These items, stored in two secure cases, were seized from his home during a raid last August. Finally, Wen acquired or offered to acquire a civilian aeroplane engine and a thermal imaging system that can be mounted on a drone or other aircraft, though it's unclear whether these were ever successfully shipped. Prosecutors allege that Wen was helping North Korea obtain materials for a potential attack on South Korea when he was arrested at his home in Ontario, California, in December last year. North Korea has been boosting its defence capabilities in recent years as it seeks to expand and update its conventional weapons. Wen admitted to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which authorises the US president to regulate commerce with countries if there is a threat to national security, and one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the IEEPA violation and a maximum penalty of 10 years for acting as a foreign agent. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug 18. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The Guardian
19-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Pocock says politicians using encrypted messaging apps damages ‘health of our democracy'
Independent senator David Pocock says the use of encrypted messaging platforms by politicians to avoid scrutiny is damaging to Australian democracy, urging the government to act on recommendations from the information commissioner and the National Archives that such messages should be retained. In a report on Wednesday from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and the National Archives, a survey of 22 government agencies found 16 allowed use of messaging apps, three did not allow their use, and three did not have a policy. Of the 16 agencies, eight had policies around the use of these apps and, of those, five did not address security classification requirements, six did not address archive requirements and five did not address FoI search requirements. The report has recommended agencies review or develop policies for encrypted messaging apps and address issues around retention of information for FoI purposes. The two agencies will re-examine the issue in two years. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Pocock urged the Albanese government to give 'careful attention and prompt action' to the report, saying there were strong probity and transparency arguments for keeping records of all communications related to government decision-making. 'The use of messaging apps to deliberately avoid scrutiny through freedom of information is deeply concerning and will have long-term negative impacts for the health of our democracy, good governance, and the accountability of our decision-makers,' he said. When Kevin Rudd was lobbying the then Turnbull government to advocate for Rudd to be appointed United Nations secretary general in 2016, it was reported in letters Rudd released that Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull had communicated about the matter over encrypted app Wickr. A freedom of information request seeking access to these messages was ultimately rejected by the prime minister's office, stating the messages could not be found. In a separate 2021 decision by the then information commissioner, Angelene Falk, the government claimed it could not find reported WhatsApp communications between the then foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, and her Indonesian counterpart related to the Morrison government's decision to recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The rise of encrypted messaging apps that have messages set to delete has presented a problem for freedom of information requests. If crucial government communications are sent over apps such as Signal and WhatsApp and are not retained, they cannot be obtained under FoI, and are also unable to be retained for the purposes of the National Archives. For FoI decisions where it is found that the documents have not been retained, the OAIC has no powers to penalise government officials for failing to retain the information, with responsibility falling to the National Archives under the Archives Act. But to date it has not been enforced in previously identified cases. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The Australian information commissioner, Elizabeth Tydd, acknowledged that a view held by some agencies – that not every communication needs to be considered a public record subject to FoI – needs to be balanced with the public interest. 'There can be a privacy preserving dimension, if those records are destroyed, and so this holistic approach to information governance, inspired by digital government and our digital era, really needs this kind of joined up approach.' Tydd indicated public servants would have a role in ensuring their ministers' offices retained messages. 'We have an act, the FoI Act, that actually recognises that government information is a national resource and should be used for public purposes,' she said. 'So that's a real strength, and bringing that to the table in this report, coupled with the APS values of stewardship … really ensure that if we equip the [Australian public service] to do this well, with joined up guidance, then we have greater transparency, greater accountability and a more participative, healthier system of democracies.' A spokesperson for the National Archives said the agency 'takes seriously any known cases of unauthorised disposal of government records regardless of technology used to create them'.
