Yahoo News French civil servant arrested on suspicion of spying for North Korea
A French civil servant has been arrested on suspicion of spying for North Korea.
Benoît Quennedey, an employee of the French senate, was arrested on Sunday night following an investigation which has been open since March.
He was detained over “collecting and delivering information to a foreign power susceptible to harming fundamental interests of the nation”, a judicial official said.
France’s domestic intelligence agency DGSI is leading the investigation.
Publishing house Delga said on its website that Quennedey travelled to the Koreas in his role as the head of the French-Korean Friendship Association, and wrote a book and essays about North Korea.
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Reports say Quennedey’s home and his parents’ home in Dijon have been searched.
Quennedey is a senior civil servant and works for the Senate’s department of architecture, heritage and gardens.
He is president of the Franco-Korean Friendship Association (AAFC), which tries to promote closer ties with North Korea and supports the reunification of North and South Korea.
He has travelled to Pyongyang several times in the past few years and written a number of articles and books about North Korea.
The Senate has declined to comment on his arrest.
The French news and talkshow Le Quotidien, which first reported the story, said Quennedey was arrested at his home and his senate office has also been searched.
