US Army analyst pleads guilty to spying for China

Korbein Schultz admits to exchanging military secrets for over $40,000, faces sentencing in January 2025

ISTANBUL:

A US Army intelligence analyst has pleaded guilty to selling highly classified military secrets to a suspected Chinese agent in exchange for over $40,000, the US Department of Justice announced on Tuesday.

Korbein Schultz, who held top-secret clearance, was charged with sharing sensitive national defense information, including export-controlled technical data on US military weapons systems, with an individual in Hong Kong whom he believed had ties to the Chinese government.

In return, Schultz received approximately $42,000.

The charges against Schultz, filed in March, include conspiracy to disclose national defense information, exporting defense articles without a license, and bribery of a public official.

Court documents revealed that Schultz provided sensitive information, including details on the Army's lessons learned from the Ukraine war, plans for a potential Taiwan defense, intelligence on Chinese military tactics, and US military satellite capabilities.

"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," said FBI Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen added, "By conspiring to transmit national defense information to a person living outside the United States, this defendant recklessly put our national security at risk to cash in on the trust our military placed in him."

Schultz's sentencing is scheduled for January 23, 2025.