North Korea demanded the United States hand over members of an anti-Pyongyang group accused of breaking into the North's embassy in Madrid in 2019 to Spain and apologize for the raid, state media reported Tuesday.
The North Korean Embassy in Spain, in a press release carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), said the U.S. is "obliged to make an official apology," provide compensation for the assault, and "arrest and extradite all criminals involved in the incident at once."
"As for Christopher Ahn, he is a felon who deserves severe punishment from every aspect as he raided into the inviolable diplomatic mission of a state together with members of the anti-DPRK plot-breeding body and inflicted massive mental and physical strains and material damage on diplomats and their family members," it said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Christopher Ahn is a Korean American and former U.S. Marine who is accused of breaking into the North's diplomatic mission in Madrid in February 2019, beating up the embassy staff, and stealing laptops and documents, along with other members of Free Joseon, an anti-Pyongyang group.
He was arrested in Los Angeles in April 2019 but was released on a US$1.3 million bail under the condition of home confinement.
Last May, a U.S. federal judge ruled that Ahn is eligible for extradition to Spain to face trial. Ahn has filed a petition to stop his extradition, saying his life could be at risk.
"The U.S. assertion that diplomats of hostile countries are excluded from exclusive diplomatic rights and privileges is a gangster-like violation of international law," the embassy said.
It also slammed Washington for openly shielding and abetting terrorism against North Korean citizens abroad.
Source: Yonhap News Agency