Christine Fang, also known as Fang Fang, was a Chinese spy who formed relationships with up-and-coming US politicians between 2011 and 2015. Christine arrived from China in 2011 to study at California State University East Bay, where she became president of both the Chinese Student Association and the campus chapter of Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs. She appeared older than most other CSU students and spent much of her time at networking events in the Bay Area and elsewhere. In October 2012 she was photographed at an event with Eric Swalwell, who at the time was a city councilmember in Dublin City, CA, and running as a Democratic candidate for the US House of Representatives. After he was elected, Swalwell joined the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in January 2015 and was the lead Democrat representative on the subcommittee for oversight of the CIA. Christine was closely linked to his campaign, bringing in donors and recommending at least one intern who worked in his office. She was also photographed with Fremont Mayor Bill Harrison, US Representative Judy Chu, US Representative Mike Honda and San Jose City Councilmember Ash Kalra, and others. In 2011 she was seen with a Chinese consular official and Russell Lowe, the office director for Senator Dianne Feinstein. Lowe was later revealed to be a Chinese intelligence agent as well. Christine also had romantic or sexual relationships with two mayors from midwestern cities, cultivating contacts around the country according to reporting by Zach Dorfman for Axios. In 2015, the FBI provided a defensive counterespionage briefing to Representative Swalwell, after which he ceased all contact with Christine. In March 2024, Chinese journalist Hu Xijin posted a photo on Twitter of himself at lunch with Christine Fang in Beijing. He wrote that she was approached by the CIA and FBI in 2015 and offered $1,000,000 plus US citizenship for her cooperation. She declined their offer and returned home to China three days later. #china #sanfrancisco #congress #spy #honeytrap

A Russian GRU agent known as Maria Adela Kuhfeldt Rivera lived and worked undetected in Italy for nearly ten years. A 10-month-long investigation by the research cooperative Bellingcat culminated in August 2022 with an in-depth look at the life and cover story of a GRU agent who targeted NATO officials in Italy for several years. Maria claimed to be the child of a Peruvian mother and Soviet father and applied for Peruvian citizenship under false pretenses in 2005, although her application was rejected by an alert Peruvian civil servant. She moved to Italy sometime in 2009 using a Russian passport and eventually opened a luxury boutique called Serein in Naples which catered to wealthy socialites in the area. Beginning in 2013 she joined a local chapter of the Lions Club charitable organization as the Secretary. This particular chapter was filled with NATO officers from several different countries, and Maria soon became a driving force for event planning and networking for the group. Over the next five years she developed close relationships (some of which were romantic) with officers and civilian staff from Belgium, Italy, Germany, and the US. She attended many events, dinners, and fundraisers either sponsored by or affiliated with NATO, including the US Marine Corps Ball. But it’s unclear whether she ever gained access to sensitive information of any type. On September 15th, 2018, Maria abruptly departed Naples for Moscow, without speaking to any of her friends and associates beforehand. One day earlier, Bellingcat had posted another extensive investigation revealing a previously unknown tradecraft error by the GRU, in which they issued sequentially numbered passports in false names to their agents in the infamous Unit 29155. Maria’s Russian passport was within the range of numbers associated with the GRU. Compared to other long-term illegal agents operating in Europe or the US, Maria was somewhat successful in that she lived and worked for nearly ten years without raising suspicion, targeted individuals of interest to Russian intelligence, built relationships with them, and left before any investigation by counterintelligence personnel. #naples #nato #russia #honeypot #italy

A South Korean spy infiltrated North Korea and met with dictator Kim Jong Il in 1997. Park Chae-seo joined South Korean military intelligence in 1990, and five years later was recruited by their civilian intelligence agency, the Agency for National Security Planning. He was given a high-risk mission; to infiltrate North Korea posing as a corrupt and opportunistic South Korean businessman and foster contacts with government officials there. Park succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. He soon began working for a South Korean company based in Beijing which imported agricultural products. He met various North Koreans there and began building a network. Through the judicious employment of bribery and favors, he continued moving up the ladder. His big break came when he helped secure the release from a Chinese prison of a nephew of Kim Jong Il’s brother-in-law, which finally gave him access to the Kim family. Park began helping the family facilitate the black-market sale of antique ceramics to wealthy South Koreans, providing them with much needed cash. Eventually he was invited to meet with Kim Jong Il himself in 1997, to discuss further ceramic sales. This level of access required Park to do the unthinkable. He went to the meeting wearing a miniature recording device inserted into his urethra; the last place anyone would be willing to search. The meeting went off without a hitch; but later in 1998 Park allegedly uncovered a plot by members of the South Korean Conservative party to bribe North Koreans to stage a violent attack right before the upcoming election; which they believed would push voters towards their party, as similar attacks had in the past. Years later the scandal came to light and Park’s name surfaced in the ensuing investigation. The Conservative party was cleared by the investigation and Park was eventually convicted on national security-related charges, which he maintains were a politically motivated smear job. He spent six years in prison before being released in 2016. A 2018 film called The Spy Gone North about his mission to North Korea was one of the most popular Korean films of the year. #southkorea #northkorea #spy #pyongyang #seoul