US soldier Korbein Schultz pleads guilty to selling military secrets to China
- The analyst was paid US$42,000 for files on topics like Chinese military tactics and lessons from the Ukraine war that could apply to Taiwan
A US Army intelligence analyst on Tuesday pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to sell military secrets to China, the US Department of Justice said.
Korbein Schultz was charged in March with conspiracy to disclose national defence information, exporting defence articles and technical data without a licence, and bribery of a public official.
Schultz, who held top secret clearance, conspired with an individual who lived in Hong Kong, whom he suspected of being associated with the Chinese government, to collect national defence information, including classified information and export-controlled technical data related to US military weapons systems, in exchange for money, according to charging and plea documents.
The individual also suggested that Schultz could earn more money if he handed over “internal only” material rather than unclassified documents.
“Governments like China are aggressively targeting our military personnel and national security information and we will do everything in our power to ensure that information is safeguarded from hostile foreign governments,” FBI Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells said in a statement.
Before Schultz was arrested, he sent dozens of sensitive and restricted – but unclassified – military documents, the Department of Justice said.