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Report: FBI warned of 'credible North Korea threat' to Christopher Ahn

Retired U.S. Marine Christopher Ahn could be extradited to Spain but the FBI has raised concerns about Ahn’s safety after the 2019 raid of the North Korean Embassy in Spain. File Photo by Mariscal/EPA-EFE
Retired U.S. Marine Christopher Ahn could be extradited to Spain but the FBI has raised concerns about Ahn’s safety after the 2019 raid of the North Korean Embassy in Spain. File Photo by Mariscal/EPA-EFE

June 10 (UPI) -- North Korean agents may have attempted to reach the attorney for Christopher Ahn, the retired U.S. Marine who was involved in the 2019 raid of the North Korean Embassy in Spain, according to a recent press report.

The FBI may also have warned of a "credible threat" to Ahn's life.

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A document released by a Los Angeles federal court showed that an FBI agent called Ahn's attorney Naeun Rim on July 31, 2019, the same month Ahn was released on bail, Radio Free Asia's Korean service reported Wednesday.

The document was confidential until Jean Rosenbluth, a federal magistrate judge for the court in California, decided to disclose the information on Tuesday, the report said.

The FBI informed Rim that the North Koreans could be planning to make contact. Pyongyang's agents wanted to know whether Rim had information on the whereabouts of Adrian Hong Chang, an anti-Pyongyang activist who is believed to have masterminded the raid on the embassy.

Ahn faces a "credible threat" from North Korea, the document reportedly said. The FBI raised concerns regarding Ahn's safety overseas and advised against traveling abroad.

Ahn, who is currently on trial, has yet to be extradited to Spain, where authorities have charged the Iraq war veteran with illegal entry, illegal confinement, assault, and being part of a criminal organization.

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Rim told RFA that North Korea has not yet made contact but confirmed the FBI had issued the preliminary warning.

The attorney also denied ever meeting Hong Chang and is not aware of his whereabouts.

Ahn and Hong Chang worked with several other people, including a North Korean defector, to conduct the embassy raid in February 2019, according to South Korean news service News 1.

The Iraq War veteran, handed over to the FBI flash drives, computer disks and other intelligence after the incident, according to Fox News.

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