This Wednesday, March 13, 2019 photo show a general view of the North Korea's embassy in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday March 13, 2019. A Spanish court is accusing an American, Mexican and South Korean part of a 10-strong group that led an attack on the North Korean Embassy in February, saying the FBI was offered stolen data. National Court judge Jose de la Mata on Tuesday, March 26 lifted a secrecy order, announcing it had found evidence of various crimes, including trespassing, injuries, threats and burglary committed by "a criminal organization." (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

This Wednesday, March 13, 2019 photo show a general view of the North Korea's embassy in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday March 13, 2019. A Spanish court is accusing an American, Mexican and South Korean part of a 10-strong group that led an attack on the North Korean Embassy in February, saying the FBI was offered stolen data. National Court judge Jose de la Mata on Tuesday, March 26 lifted a secrecy order, announcing it had found evidence of various crimes, including trespassing, injuries, threats and burglary committed by "a criminal organization." (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

MADRID (AP) — Spain has issued at least two international arrest warrants for members of a self-proclaimed human rights group who allegedly led a mysterious raid at the North Korean Embassy in Madrid last month and offered the FBI stolen data from the break-in.

A National Court judge who lifted a secrecy order in the case Tuesday said an investigation of the Feb. 22 attack uncovered evidence that “a criminal organization” shackled and gagged embassy staff members before escaping with computers, hard drives and documents.

The intruders also urged North Korea’s only accredited diplomat in Spain, business envoy So Yun Sok, to defect, Judge Jose de la Mata said in a written report on the Spanish investigation. So refused to do so and was gagged, according to the report.

The assailants identified themselves as “members of an association or movement of human rights for the liberation of North Korea.”

That group is the Cheollima Civil Defense, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the incident. The shadowy activists have the self-declared mission of helping defectors from North Korea.

De la Mata identified citizens of Mexico, the United States and South Korea as the main suspects being investigated on charges that include of causing injuries, making threats and burglary. He named Adrian Hong Chang, a Mexican citizen living in the United States, as the break-in’s leader.

Hong Chang flew to the U.S. on Feb. 23, got in touch with the FBI and offered to share material and videos with federal investigators, according to the court report. The document did not say what type of information the items contained or whether the FBI accepted the offer.

The FBI said in a statement that its standard practice is to neither confirm nor deny the existence of investigations. The agency added that “the FBI enjoys a strong working relationship with our Spanish law enforcement partners.”

An official with Spain’s National Police who wasn’t authorized to be named in media reports confirmed to The Associated Press that arrest warrants were issued for Hong Chang and one other suspect. No one had been charged as of Tuesday.

The assailants purchased knives and handgun mock-ups when they visited Madrid in early February and used them during the attack, according to the investigation document.

While in Madrid, Hong Chang also applied for a new passport at the Mexican Embassy, the investigation found, and used the name “Oswaldo Trump” to register in the Uber ride-hailing app.

The North Korean Embassy hasn’t pressed charges in Spain, and officials in Pyongyang haven’t officially commented on the attack.

Spanish police learned about the break-in after the wife of an embassy employee escaped by jumping from a window. When officers went to check on the situation, Hong Chang allegedly greeted them at the door and pretended to be a diplomatic official, the investigation found.

He sent the officers away with assurances everything was fine, paving the way for the invading group to make a getaway in the embassy’s cars.

A police investigator with knowledge of the case told the AP that “this attack, whatever it is, would have gone unnoticed if it wasn’t for the woman who escaped.”

So, the North Korean diplomat, didn’t respond to written questions from The Associated Press and declined to talk to reporters during a recent encounter outside the Madrid embassy.

The timing of the incident, which happened less than a week before a high-stakes U.S.-North Korea summit on denuclearization derailed in Hanoi on Feb. 28, led to speculation the incursion was carried out to obtain data related to North Korea’s former ambassador to Spain.

Kim Hyok Chol, who was expelled from Spain in September 2017 following Pyongyang’s sixth nuclear test and its missile launches over neighboring Japan, has become North Korea’s top nuclear negotiator with the U.S.

Asked if Washington had any connection to the embassy break-in, U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino answered, “The United States government had nothing to do with this.”

Palladino said that “regarding the specifics of what’s going on, the Spanish authorities are investigating. The investigation is still underway. For any details on their investigation, I would have to refer you to Spanish authorities.”

The South Korean Embassy in Madrid said it had no knowledge of the events and couldn’t offer further comment.

Others identified as part of the assailants’ group were Sam Ryu, from the U.S., and Woo Ran Lee, a South Korean citizen. Their whereabouts and their hometowns weren’t immediately known. None of the suspects were thought to be still in Spain, the judge wrote.

Spanish authorities tried to keep information about the attack from becoming public until Spain’s El Confidencial news site revealed some details on Feb. 27.

Last week, the rights group that allegedly led the attack posted a short video on its website allegedly showing a man shattering portraits of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on the floor.

The group said the video was filmed recently “on our homeland’s soil,” wording that would accurately apply to the North Korean Embassy in Madrid.

___

AP writers Deb Riechmann and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.</s>A Spanish judge has issued international arrest warrants for two of the intruders who forced their way into North Korea’s embassy in Spain in February, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing a Spanish judicial source. The suspects are currently believed to have reached the United States.

The attack on the North Korean embassy in Madrid, which happened on February 22, was led by a Mexican citizen residing in the United States, it was revealed on Tuesday.

Adrian Hong Chang, who led a group of 10 people during the assault on the embassy, is believed to have informed the FBI in New York and provided them with audiovisual material he obtained during the embassy robbery, the Spanish news agency EFE reported.

One of the international arrest warrants has been issued for Hong Chang. The other is for Sam Ryu, who is a U.S. citizen of Korean descent and is also a suspect in the embassy intrusion case.

On February 22, Hong Chang entered the North Korean embassy and asked to see a manager to whom he had previously lied about being a businessman, according to the details of the investigation, the secrecy of which was lifted on Tuesday by Judge José María de la Mata, of the Spanish National Court.

The court file includes the list of the crimes committed by Hong Chang and his gang: threats, burglary, illegal detentions, document forgery, injuries and theft committed by a criminal organisation. The document also notes that the intruders in the embassy were citizens of Mexico, the United States and South Korea.

Spain's Interior Ministry had previously said police were investigating an incident at the embassy, but gave no details except to say that a North Korean citizen had been injured and that no one had filed a complaint, Reuters reported.</s>Spanish court accuses American, Mexican and South Korean of North Korea Embassy attack, says FBI was offered stolen data

MADRID (AP) — Spanish court accuses American, Mexican and South Korean of North Korea Embassy attack, says FBI was offered stolen data.</s>MADRID (AP) — Spanish court accuses American, Mexican and South Korean of North Korea Embassy attack, says FBI was offered stolen data.</s>(MADRID) — Spain has issued at least two international arrest warrants for members of a self-proclaimed human rights group who allegedly led a mysterious raid at the North Korean Embassy in Madrid last month and offered the FBI stolen data from the break-in.

A National Court judge who lifted a secrecy order in the case Tuesday said an investigation of the Feb. 22 attack uncovered evidence that “a criminal organization” shackled and gagged embassy staff members before escaping with computers, hard drives and documents.

The intruders also urged North Korea’s only accredited diplomat in Spain, business envoy So Yun Sok, to defect, Judge Jose de la Mata said in a written report on the Spanish investigation. So refused to do so and was gagged, according to the report.

The assailants identified themselves as “members of an association or movement of human rights for the liberation of North Korea.”

That group is the Cheollima Civil Defense, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the incident. The shadowy activists have the self-declared mission of helping defectors from North Korea.

De la Mata identified citizens of Mexico, the United States and South Korea as the main suspects being investigated on charges that include of causing injuries, making threats and burglary. He named Adrian Hong Chang, a Mexican citizen living in the United States, as the break-in’s leader.

Hong Chang flew to the U.S. on Feb. 23, got in touch with the FBI and offered to share material and videos with federal investigators, according to the court report. The document did not say what type of information the items contained or whether the FBI accepted the offer.

The FBI said in a statement that its standard practice is to neither confirm nor deny the existence of investigations. The agency added that “the FBI enjoys a strong working relationship with our Spanish law enforcement partners.”

An official with Spain’s National Police who wasn’t authorized to be named in media reports confirmed to The Associated Press that arrest warrants were issued for Hong Chang and one other suspect. No one had been charged as of Tuesday.

The assailants purchased knives and handgun mock-ups when they visited Madrid in early February and used them during the attack, according to the investigation document.

While in Madrid, Hong Chang also applied for a new passport at the Mexican Embassy, the investigation found, and used the name “Oswaldo Trump” to register in the Uber ride-hailing app.

The North Korean Embassy hasn’t pressed charges in Spain, and officials in Pyongyang haven’t officially commented on the attack.

Spanish police learned about the break-in after the wife of an embassy employee escaped by jumping from a window. When officers went to check on the situation, Hong Chang allegedly greeted them at the door and pretended to be a diplomatic official, the investigation found.

He sent the officers away with assurances everything was fine, paving the way for the invading group to make a getaway in the embassy’s cars.

A police investigator with knowledge of the case told the AP that “this attack, whatever it is, would have gone unnoticed if it wasn’t for the woman who escaped.”

So, the North Korean diplomat, didn’t respond to written questions from The Associated Press and declined to talk to reporters during a recent encounter outside the Madrid embassy.

The timing of the incident, which happened less than a week before a high-stakes U.S.-North Korea summit on denuclearization derailed in Hanoi on Feb. 28, led to speculation the incursion was carried out to obtain data related to North Korea’s former ambassador to Spain.

Kim Hyok Chol, who was expelled from Spain in September 2017 following Pyongyang’s sixth nuclear test and its missile launches over neighboring Japan, has become North Korea’s top nuclear negotiator with the U.S.

Asked if Washington had any connection to the embassy break-in, U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino answered, “The United States government had nothing to do with this.”

Palladino said that “regarding the specifics of what’s going on, the Spanish authorities are investigating. The investigation is still underway. For any details on their investigation, I would have to refer you to Spanish authorities.”

The South Korean Embassy in Madrid said it had no knowledge of the events and couldn’t offer further comment.

Others identified as part of the assailants’ group were Sam Ryu, from the U.S., and Woo Ran Lee, a South Korean citizen. Their whereabouts and their hometowns weren’t immediately known. None of the suspects were thought to be still in Spain, the judge wrote.

Spanish authorities tried to keep information about the attack from becoming public until Spain’s El Confidencial news site revealed some details on Feb. 27.

Last week, the rights group that allegedly led the attack posted a short video on its website allegedly showing a man shattering portraits of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on the floor.

The group said the video was filmed recently “on our homeland’s soil,” wording that would accurately apply to the North Korean Embassy in Madrid.</s>The leader of a North Korean dissident group that raided the North Korean Embassy in Madrid last month and offered stolen materials to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a Spanish court has said.

Mexican citizen Adrian Hong Chang contacted "the FBI in New York five days after the assault to facilitate information related to the incident in the embassy," Spain's National Court said Tuesday.

Chang led a "criminal organization" that identified itself as a "movement of human rights for the liberation of North Korea," National Court judge Jose de la Mata said in a written report after lifting a secrecy order on the case.

The gang allegedly broke into the embassy on February 22, shackled and gagged employees, and ran off with computers, hard drives and other documents.

They also urged the embassy's commercial attache, So Yun Sok, to defect, de la Mata said. The assailants allegedly gagged So after he refused to do so.

The next day, Chang flew to the United States and offered FBI investigators unspecified documents, the court report said, without elaborating on whether the FBI accepted the material.

De la Mata said Spanish authorities were investigating US, Mexican and South Korean citizens on charges of bodily harm, making threats and burglary.

Spain issued international arrest warrants for Chang and one of his accomplices, according to the AP news agency.

Cheollima Civil Defense, a North Korean dissident group, claimed responsibility for the incursion on Tuesday, but denied carrying out an attack.

The incident took place days before a meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

The timing fueled speculation that the group was trying to get information on North Korea's former ambassador to Spain. Kim Hyok Chol became North Korea's top nuclear negotiator in talks with the United States after he was expelled as ambassador in September 2017.

Asked about Chang's offer, the FBI said it never comments on an investigation and that it "enjoys a strong working relationship with our Spanish law enforcement partners."

The US State Department denied that Washington was involved in the break-in. "The United States government had nothing to do with this," a spokesman said.

North Korea has not yet commented on the raid.

Every day, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. Sign up for the newsletter here.</s>MADRID (Reuters) - One of 10 intruders who entered North Korea’s embassy in Madrid by force on Feb. 22 contacted the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation days afterwards, Spain’s High Court said on Tuesday.

Spain’s Interior Ministry had previously said police were investigating an incident at the embassy, but gave no details except to say that a North Korean citizen had been injured and that no one had filed a complaint.

In an official document based on the investigation, the High Court said on Tuesday one of the group, a Mexican citizen resident in the United States, had contacted the FBI on Feb. 27 in order to pass on information regarding the incident at the embassy, including audiovisual recordings.

The intruders had included citizens of Mexico, the United States and South Korea, the High Court also said in the document.

The Mexican citizen said he had carried out the raid voluntarily and he did not identify his companions, the court document said.

The group checked the embassy for arms before leaving the premises, at which point they separated into four groups and headed for Portugal. The Mexican flew from Lisbon to New York.

There was no immediate comment on the matter from the U.S. State Department.</s>MADRID (AP) — Spain has issued two international arrest warrants for members of a self-proclaimed human rights group that allegedly led a mysterious attack on the North Korean Embassy in February before offering data stolen during the raid to the FBI.

National Court judge Jose de la Mata on Tuesday lifted a secrecy order in the case, announcing it had found evidence of various crimes, including trespassing, injuries, threats and burglary committed by “a criminal organization” at the embassy in a leafy northern Madrid neighborhood. He identified a Mexican, an American and a South Korean as main suspects in the case.

The judge named Adrian Hong Chang, a Mexican national and resident in the United States, as the leader of a gang of 10 people who escaped on Feb. 22 after stealing computers and documents from the embassy, where they shackled and gagged its staff.

De la Mata said the assailants identified themselves as “members of an association or movement of human rights for the liberation of North Korea” and that they urged So Yun Sok, the embassy’s business envoy and only diplomat, to defect. He refused to do so and was also gagged.

That group is the Cheollima Civil Defense, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the incident. The shadowy activists have the self-declared mission of helping defectors of the North Korean regime.

The court document said Hong Chang flew to the U.S. on Feb. 23, where he got in touch with the FBI and offered to share material and videos with federal investigators. The Spanish investigation didn’t say what the content of the material was, or whether the FBI accepted it.

The document added that most suspects were believed to be outside of Spain.

The FBI said in a statement that its standard practice is not to confirm nor deny the existence of investigations but added that “the FBI enjoys a strong working relationship with our Spanish law enforcement partners.”

A police spokesman who wasn’t authorized to be named in media reports confirmed to The Associated Press that arrest warrants had been issued against Hong Chang and one other suspect.

No formal charges have yet been brought into the attack.

So, the North Korean diplomat, didn’t respond to written questions from The Associated Press and declined to talk to reporters during a recent encounter outside his embassy in northwestern Madrid.

Others identified as part of the assailants’ group were Sam Ryu, from the U.S., and Woo Ran Lee, a South Korean citizen. Their whereabouts and their hometowns weren’t immediately known.

The South Korean Embassy in Madrid said it had no knowledge of the events and couldn’t offer further comment.

The assailants purchased knives and handgun mock-ups when they visited Madrid in early February, according to the investigation, and later used them for the attack.

While in Madrid, Hong Chang also applied for a new passport at the Mexican Embassy, the investigation found, and used the name “Oswaldo Trump” to register in the Uber ride-hailing app.

The North Korean Embassy hasn’t pressed charges in Spain, and officials in Pyongyang haven’t officially commented on the attack.

Spanish police first found out about the incident after the wife of one of the embassy’s workers managed to escape by jumping from a window.

When confronted by Spanish police officers who went to check on the embassy, Hong Chang posed as an embassy official and said everything was normal. That paved the way for the group’s escape in the embassy’s cars.

The attack’s timing, barely a week before a high-stakes U.S.-North Korea summit on denuclearization derailed in Hanoi on Feb. 28, had led many to speculate that it was an attempt to obtain data related to the North’s former ambassador to Spain.

Kim Hyok Chol, who was expelled from Spain in September 2017 following Pyongyang’s sixth round of nuclear tests and missile launches over neighboring Japan, has become North Korea’s top nuclear negotiator with the U.S.

Spanish authorities have kept the events of the embassy attack out of the public eye until Spain’s El Confidencial news site first revealed some details on Feb. 27.

A police investigator with knowledge of the case told the AP that “this attack, whatever it is, would have gone unnoticed if it wasn’t for the woman who escaped.”

Last week, the rights group that allegedly led the attack posted a short video on its website allegedly showing a man shattering against the floor portraits of North Korean late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.

The group said the video had been filmed recently “on our homeland’s soil,” in what could be a reference to the North Korean Embassy in Madrid.</s>North Korea embassy in Madrid raid: Spanish judge will request extraditions from the US

Spanish judge plans to request the extradition from the United States of members of a group he suspects of forcing their way into the North Korean embassy in Madrid and trying to persuade an official there to defect, a judicial source said on Tuesday.

The judge believes a group of 10 intruders identified themselves during the assault as human rights campaigners, according to a Spanish High Court document. The group’s leader contacted the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) a few days later to pass on information about the raid, the document said.

A judicial source said the judge believes all the identified suspects went to the United States after the raid and that he would request their extradition to Spain, where they could face up to 28 years in prison.

State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said the U.S. government was not involved in the raid, which Spanish High Court documents said involved a Mexican citizen who is a U.S. resident and a U.S. citizen, as well as South Korean citizens.

“The United States government had nothing to do with this,” Palladino told a regular news briefing, stressing that the United States called for the protection of all embassies.

He referred questions about the investigation to Spanish authorities. The FBI said in a statement it was “our standard practice to neither confirm nor deny the existence of an investigation”, adding that the agency had a strong working relationship with Spanish law enforcement partners.

Spain’s Interior Ministry had previously said police were investigating an incident at the embassy on Feb. 22 but gave no details, except to say that a North Korean citizen had been injured and that no one had filed a complaint.

A Mexican citizen who is a U.S. resident, identified as Adrian Hong Chang, led the group, the Spanish High Court said in the document, based on the investigation of the incident.

The Adrian Hong Chang named by the court is a longtime activist who helped co-found the refugee aid organization Liberty in North Korea (LINK), and later led an organization preparing for an “imminent, dramatic change” in North Korea, according to NK News, a website that monitors North Korea.

He has usually gone by Adrian Hong in his professional affiliations and in op-eds about North Korea penned for numerous American publications.

The group stole computers, hard disks and pen drives, it said. It was not clear how the court knew that Hong had contacted the FBI.

Three of the intruders took an embassy official into the basement and encouraged him to defect from North Korea. They identified themselves as members of a group which campaigned for the “liberation of North Korea”, the document said.

A dissident organization called Cheollima Civil Defense acknowledged on its website late on Tuesday that it was behind the incident but said it was not an attack and that the group had been invited into the embassy.

Cheollima, also known as Free Joseon, said no one was gagged or beaten and that no governments were involved.

Sung-Yoon Lee, a North Korea expert at Tufts University in the United States, said he was shocked that the names should have been revealed in the Spanish documents. He said this could put the lives of members of the group - including a U.S. citizen, a U.S. resident and citizens of a close ally, South Korea - at risk from North Korean reprisals.

According to the court document, the group kept embassy staff tied up for several hours and then searched the premises for arms before leaving, at which point they separated into four groups and headed to Portugal. Hong Chang then flew from Lisbon to New York.</s>MADRID — Spanish court accuses American, Mexican and South Korean of North Korea Embassy attack, says FBI was offered stolen data.

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The Spanish Audiencia Nacional reveals that an attack on the North Korean embassy in Madrid on February 22 was led by a Mexican citizen residing in the United States who later offered the FBI data stolen during the incident.