By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Kiev : Two diplomats, identified only as coming from Asia, have been sentenced to eight years in prison for an attempt to steal secret rocket technology from Ukraine, the country’s security service SBU reported Wednesday.
Ukrainian newspaper Segodnya, however, identified the two men as Ryu Song-chul and Lee Tae-kil and alleged they were from North Korea.
The alleged spies had been working with a trade mission in Minsk.
Using internet, they attempted to establish contacts with specialists related to Ukraine’s rocket design bureau Yuzhnoye and tried to persuade them to provide access to classified documents.
They were caught red-handed in July 2011 in a garage in Dnepropetrovsk “when taking photographs of classified documents”. They were also carrying special electronic equipment.
In January, a case against them was submitted to court. In May, a court found the two men guilty of espionage. Each of them got an eight-year jail term. The sentence took effect in June 2012.