▲ Seoul Central District Court
An Uzbek national who entered South Korea on a student visa is currently on trial for allegedly financing a terrorist organization based in Syria.
The individual, an Uzbek national identified as A, was arrested and indicted in June on charges including the violation of the Counter-Terrorism Act, and is currently standing trial before Judge Heo Seo-yun of Criminal Single Division 17 at the Seoul Central District Court.
According to the investigation, A entered South Korea in April 2021 on a language training (D-4-1) visa for a university-affiliated language institute. While staying in the country as a student, A received a Telegram message in November 2023 from a member of KTJ (Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad), a United Nations-designated terrorist organization.
KTJ is an Islamic extremist group established in December 2014. It has been implicated in several terrorist attacks, including a vehicle suicide bombing in Al-Fu'ah, Syria, in September 2015, a suicide bombing at the Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan in August 2016, and a suicide bombing on the St. Petersburg metro in Russia in April 2017.
The organization member introduced themselves to A as a fellow Uzbek national and stated that KTJ was fighting against the Syrian government forces and Russia.
The member then requested financial support, stating, "We are fighting for oppressed Muslims, but we are struggling with living expenses because we have no money."
Investigations revealed that A subsequently transferred a total of 1.25 million won to an account designated by the member between January 2024 and January 2025.
A was also charged with attempting, but failing, to carry out an additional request from the same member, who asked A to receive funds from "a brother in South Korea" and forward them to Syria.
A shared their address and contact information via Telegram with the "brother" designated by the organization member, saying, "If you send the money via parcel delivery, I will wire it on your behalf."
However, it was found that the funds were ultimately not delivered to the organization member because the "brother" side failed to send the money.
During the first hearing held on September 18, the court closed the arguments and scheduled the sentencing for October 21.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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