Former US Marine accused over attack on DPRK mission in Spain
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A FORMER US Marine from Southern California was part of a group of dissidents wielding machetes and fake guns when they stormed the embassy of the Democratic People鈥檚 Republic of Korea in Madrid and tied up and beat officials inside, federal prosecutors said.
Spain is seeking to extradite Christopher Philip Ahn on charges including robbery, illegal restraint and criminal organization, according to a criminal complaint released on Tuesday.
Judge Jean Rosenbluth denied bond for Ahn during a Los Angeles court hearing attended by his wife, mother and about two dozen other supporters.
Prosecutors said Ahn, 38, was arrested during a raid last week on the Los Angeles apartment of a co-defendant, Adrian Hong Chang, a leader of the Free Joseon group. Hong Chang was not at home and has not been arrested.
Free Joseon, also known as the Cheollima Civil Defense group, styles itself as a government in exile dedicated to toppling the ruling Kim family in DPRK.
Hong Chang knocked on the embassy鈥檚 door on February 22 and asked to speak to a certain official, according to court papers filed by the US Attorney鈥檚 Office. After he was let inside and a worker walked away, Hong Chang opened the door and let in six other members of the group, including Ahn, according to the documents.
The group 鈥 armed with machetes, iron bars, knives and fake guns 鈥 beat some of the workers and then tied them up with shackles and cables, prosecutors said. They put bags over some workers鈥 heads, beat them and threatened them with the metal bars and guns, according to the court papers.
The wife of one of the embassy officials tried to escape from a terrace but fell and was injured. Another woman and a young child were guarded as the attack continued.
When Spanish police arrived, Hong Chang answered the embassy鈥檚 front door 鈥 posing as an embassy official and wearing a pin featuring DPRK鈥檚 leader on his jacket 鈥 and told the officers there was no commotion inside. The hostages were beaten and held for hours as the group stole several pen drives, two computers, two hard drives and a cellphone, the complaint said.
Prosecutors said Ahn had a 鈥渟trong incentive to flee鈥 because he faces more than 10 years in prison if he鈥檚 extradited and convicted in Spain.
Ahn鈥檚 attorney, Callie Steele, denied Ahn was a flight risk because he was a devoted caregiver to his ill mother and 96-year-old grandmother, who is blind. The Los Angeles native received an honorable discharge from the Marines, earned an MBA from the University of Virginia, and has no criminal record, Steele said.
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