China says it has detained a South Korean national suspected of spying.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian confirmed the detention at a news conference on Tuesday.
He said China is a country ruled by law, and therefore investigates and penalizes criminal activities in accordance with the law.
Multiple South Korean media outlets reported that the detainee is a South Korean man in his 50s living in Anhui Province.
The man was reportedly questioned by Chinese authorities last December and subsequently taken into custody on suspicion of violating China’s counterespionage law.
The reports also said the man has worked in the semiconductor divisions at South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and other companies. Chinese authorities reportedly suspect the man of leaking semiconductor-related information to South Korea while working for a Chinese firm.
The media outlets say it is the first time a South Korean citizen has been detained since Beijing’s revised counterespionage law took effect last July.
A South Korean Foreign Ministry official said the government has been providing necessary assistance ever since the case first came to its attention.
A number of Japanese nationals have been detained in China on suspicion of spying.
A man in his 50s who worked for major Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma was indicted in August following his detention last year in Beijing for his alleged involvement in espionage.