Chinese national pleads guilty to acting as arms dealer to North Korea

LOS ANGELES (CN) — A Chinese man living without permanent legal status in Southern California pleaded guilty on Monday to charges for illegally exporting firearms, ammunition and a piece of military technology to the North Korean government.

Shengua Wen, 42, was paid about $2 million by North Korean government officials, who requested the military items. Wen pleaded guilty to one count each of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government, and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. He has been in federal custody since he was arrested and first charged in December 2024.

According to the plea agreement, prior to entering the U.S., Wen, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, met with government officials from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at the Korean embassy in China.

“The North Korean government officials directed defendant to procure goods on behalf of the North Korean government,” prosecutors wrote.

Wen came to the U.S. in 2012 on a student visa, which expired in 2013, and has been living in the U.S. for more than a decade. But in 2022, North Korean officials reached out to him.

“Two North Korean government officials known by Korean names as ‘Jin Yong Nan’ and ‘Cui’ contacted defendant and instructed him to purchase and export firearms and other goods, including sensitive technology, from the United States to North Korea via China,” prosecutors said.

Wen agreed. To communicate, the men used the encrypted messaging platform “Wickr.”

In 2023, Wen shipped “at least three containers of firearms” out of the port of Long Beach. The next year, Wen “purchased approximately 60,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition” that the intended to ship over to North Korea.

“To procure weapons for North Korea, in or around May 2023, defendant purchased AK5000 INC (Super Armory), a Federal Firearms Licensee (‘FFL’) in Texas … Defendant purchased many of the firearms that he sent to North Korea in Texas, and he then drove the firearms from Texas to California,” prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also said Wen also obtained sensitive military technology he intended to send to North Korea, including a a chemical threat identification device and a “handheld broadband receiver that detects known, unknown, illegal, disruptive, or interfering transmissions.” He also offered to obtain and sell a thermal imaging system that can be mounted on a drone or aircraft, to be used in reconnaissance.

Relations between the U.S. and North Korea have been hostile ever since the Korean War in the early 1950s. The two countries have no formal diplomatic relations, and the U.S. imposed harsh economic sanctions against North Korea, as punishment for its nuclear weapons program and human rights violations, among other things. Most trade to North Korea is therefore prohibited, including weapons. As an illegal alien, Wen is also prohibited from possessing any guns or ammunition.

Wen is scheduled to be sentenced on August 18. He faces a maximum of 30 years in prison.

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