California resident guilty of shipping weapons to North Korea, prosecutors say.
Shenghua Wen, from Ontario, California, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to break the International Emergency Economic Powers Act—a 1977 law allowing the president to restrict trade for national security—and to acting as a non-registered foreign agent, as stated by the Justice Department on Monday.
Wen, 42, sent at least three gun-filled containers to North Korea in 2023, one of which reached Nampo, North Korea, through Hong Kong, according to prosecutors.
Wen reportedly bought a gun business in Houston and used fake documents to conceal the contents of his shipments, as per prosecutors.
He also allegedly purchased about 60,000 rounds of 9mm ammo and secured “sensitive tech,” including a chemical threat detection device, to send to North Korea. Wen, who was arrested in December, allegedly obtained around $2m for the operation.
North Korean officials at their embassy in China reportedly ordered Wen to get these weapons and goods. Wen entered the US on a student visa in 2012 before these alleged actions.
According to the press release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Wen admitted to the illegality of his actions and to having no required export licenses for these shipments to North Korea.
“Wen further acknowledged that he operated under the direction of North Korean government officials and did not inform the US Attorney General that he was acting in the US at North Korea’s behest, as legally mandated,” stated the press release.
In a September criminal complaint, Wen told the FBI that he believed North Korea wanted the weapons and ammo to prepare for a possible attack on South Korea.
Sentencing for Wen is set for August, with a potential maximum sentence of 20 years for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and up to 10 years for working as an unregistered foreign agent.
