North Korean spy tried to kill herself

26, 2008
By Kim So-hyun
North Korean spy Won Jeong-hwa, who was sentenced to a five-year jail term in October, attempted suicide in prison, detention officials in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, said yesterday.

Won, 34, tried to choke herself by tying a towel around her neck on Tuesday at the Suwon detention cell but was stopped by a prison guard, according to the has shown signs of depression for months.She attended trials of her stepfather Kim Dong-soon.

Kim, also a spy from the North, was indicted for bankrolling Won's espionage activities. South Korean Army captain Hwang was indicted for having passed on confidential information to Won despite knowing her identity.

"Won has been in distress as she worried about her family members in the North and missed her daughter," said an official at the Suwon Prosecutor's Office।"She has no physical health problems।" Won came to the South in 2001, claiming to be Chinese of Korean. She purportedly had affairs with South Korean military officers to gather military-related intelligence for the North.

She is accused of using her trade business as a front to frequently travel to China, where she is believed to have shared military secrets with a North Korean liaison officer.Won was apprehended in July and indicted in August this year. --The Korea Herald, Asia News Network