Canadian NKorea expert suspected of spying for China, detained in Switzerland

PHOTO CAPTION: Reuters

SEOUL (Reuters) - A former U.N. official from Canada who now works as a North Korea specialist has been detained in Switzerland on charges of spying, likely for China, media reports said on Thursday, citing unnamed intelligence sources.

The reports were part of a joint investigation by the German news outlet Der Spiegel, the Swiss media company Tamedia and North Korea-focused website NK News.

The Swiss attorney general's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case.

The suspect regularly travelled to China for his work as an environmental consultant before being arrested earlier in the spring on espionage charges, said NK News, an online outlet that has staff in the U.S., Europe and South Korea.

It said it did not publish the official's full name as he has not been convicted and authorities have not made public charges against him.

The person, in his 50s and a resident of Geneva, was in pretrial detainment for several months pending the conclusion of an investigation by the Swiss attorney general's office, the NK News report said.



(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith; Additional reporting by Paul Arnold in Geneva; Editing by Conor Humphries)