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The Australian Federal Police have arrested a 59-year-old Australian man for allegedly acting as an economic agent for DPRK with the intent of raising revenue for the Pyongyang government.
Authorities identified the man as Chan Han Choi, a South Korean-born Sydney man, CNN affiliate Seven Network Australia reported.
Police said the man, a naturalized Australian citizen, allegedly brokered the sale of missiles, missile components and expertise from DPRK to other international entities, and discussed the supply of weapons of mass destruction.
He also planned to transfer coal from DPRK to entities in Vietnam and Indonesia, police said. Police said there is no evidence that the governments of those two countries were aware of the plan.
These actions are alleged breaches of UN and Australian sanctions.
Recent UN sanctions have targeted everything from seafood exports, foreign labor and joint ventures with DPRK.
The arrested man is facing six charges in connection with the acts.
"This case is like nothing we have ever seen on Australian soil," Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan
"This is the first time charges have been laid under the Commonwealth Weapons of Mass Destruction Act in Australia, and the first time we have laid charges specifically for alleged breaches of UN sanctions against DPRK."
Choi didn't appear or apply for bail during court on Sunday, and bail was formally refused by Acting Magistrate Carl Milovanovich, the CNN affiliate reported.
Police started investigating the suspect after a tip "from another international agency on another matter."
According to the Seven Network report, Gaughan said the business activity occurred offshore and that "there had been no risk to the Australian public and that no weapons, or missile componentry -- which he said was software-- had been imported into Australia."
"This man was a loyal agent of DPRK, who believed he was acting to serve some higher patriotic purpose," Gaughan said, according to Seven Network Australia.
"I think at the end of the day he would sell whatever he could to make money back for the North Korean government."
The Seven Network report said that "Choi has been charged over two transactions that were unsuccessful, but there may be more."
"But we estimate that if these trades were successful we're talking tens of millions of dollars," he told reporters in Sydney.
(CNN)
