Two men, both involved in business with North Korea, have been arrested by South Korean police on suspicion of passing military intelligence to Pyongyang.

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) revealed the news yesterday, stating that the two men have been charged with violating the National Security Law as it pertains to espionage activities.

The men, aged 56 and 74, are accused of receiving orders from a North Korean agent in his 40s in the Chinese border city of Dandong in July, 2011. In accordance with these orders, the younger man then obtained and passed information on cutting-edge military equipment to the older man.

“The information obtained was secret information unobtainable to ordinary people, documents and manuals on the performance, data and usage method of equipment used by our military. If such information is passed to North Korea, it is no different to our military strategy being passed to them,” an official with SMPA noted.

According to the police report, the elder of the two men was given a life sentence in February 1972 on another charge of spying for North Korea, but was released in 1990 after 18 years in prison.

Military authorities are working to establish whether there is any connection between the actions of the two men and recent GPS interference emanating from North Korea that afflicted aircraft and shipping in the vicinity of the West Sea.