Michael Spavor

Last updated

Michael Spavor
Michael-Spavor-2010 (cropped).jpg
Spavor in August 2010
Born
Michael Peter Todd Spavor

1976 (age 47–48) [1]
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Occupations
  • Consultant
  • director
Website paektuculturalexchange.org (until 2020)

Michael Peter Todd Spavor (born 1976) is a Canadian consultant who has worked extensively in North Korea. He is the director and founding member of Paektu Cultural Exchange, a NGO that facilitates sports, cultural, tourism and business exchanges involving North Korea. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

In December 2018, while he was living and working in Dandong on the Chinese side of the China–North Korea border, Spavor was taken into custody, along with Michael Kovrig, by Chinese officials. [5] The arrest was widely interpreted as retaliation for Canada's arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. [6] [7] On August 10, 2021, Spavor was sentenced to 11 years in prison for espionage. [7] [8] On September 24, 2021, Spavor was released after the dropping of Meng Wanzhou's extradition request as part of her deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. [9] Canadian officials initially claimed the espionage charges were "unfounded". However, in 2023, it was revealed that Spavor may have unwittingly been used by Michael Kovrig for espionage, as Kovrig had passed on information relating to North Korea from Spavor to Canadian intelligence agencies. [10]

History

Michael Spavor was born in Toronto, Ontario. He has a degree from the University of Calgary in international relations, focusing on the Korean Peninsula and East Asian Studies, and has studied International Trade and Political Science at Kangwon National University in South Korea. [11] Spavor is fluent in Korean, including the North Korean dialect, [12] and French. [11]

Spavor's ties with North Korea go back to at least 2001, [12] when he first visited the country. In 2005, he became the managing director of a Vancouver-based NGO and spent six months working as a teacher at an affiliated school in Pyongyang. In the same year, he met American defector James Joseph Dresnok in Pyongyang. [13] Spavor is friends with Kenji Fujimoto, Kim Jong-il's Japanese former sushi chef, whom he first met in Japan in early 2016 and again in April 2016. [14]

In South Korea, Spavor attended Kangwon National University and worked for the Korea Tourism Organization and Seoul Tourism Organization. He also was a council member of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch from 2010 to 2013, giving lectures and leading cultural excursions. [15] He gained attention for restoring and living in a hanok in Bugahyeon-dong in western Seoul, [16] and appeared in a music video for the K-pop group SES. [17]

From 2010 to 2013, Spavor worked for the Pyongyang Project, a Canadian non-profit that organized educational exchanges in North Koreans and provided scholarships for North Korean students overseas, and in 2015 he founded Paektu Cultural Exchange. [18]

Spavor has strong personal ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. [12] In September 2013, Spavor facilitated the second visit of Dennis Rodman to North Korea and became one of the few Westerners to have met Kim while in the city of Wonsan. Spavor later organized Rodman's 2014 visit. [19] [20] Spavor has been involved in the financial development of Wonsan, which is a high priority for Kim Jong-un, who has invested at least $150 million into the city. [12]

In November 2023, it was reported that Spavor decided to sue the federal government for entangling him in espionage activities without his knowledge, and he is seeking a multimillion dollar settlement. [21] [22] According to Spavor, he gave sensitive information to Michael Kovrig, who then secretly gave the information to the Canadian government and its Five Eyes surveillance services without getting Spavor's permission. [23] [24] Spavor said that it was Kovrig's intelligence work that resulted in the arrest and detention of both Canadians. [25] [26]

Paektu Cultural Exchange

In January 2016, Spavor and Paektu Cultural Exchange sought a European Order for Payment against the betting company Paddy Power for failing to fulfill their contractual obligations after they pulled sponsorship for a basketball event to be held in North Korea. [27]

In March 2016, Spavor organized the Pyongyang International Friendship Ice Hockey Exhibition (PIFIHE), bringing around 20 foreign hockey players [28] to North Korea, including two Canadian residents of South Korea, for a series of games and other workshop events. [29]

In 2017, during a qualifying match between the North and South Korean women's ice hockey teams for the 2018 Winter Olympics, Spavor was assaulted by South Korean security officials as he tried to display the North Korean flag. [30]

Outside of sports exchanges, Spavor also played a role in the restoration of the Ryongwang Pavilion in Pyongyang, spending four years on the project alongside the Prince Claus Fund and North Korea's National Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. [31]

Spavor is often consulted by analysts and journalists for insights into North Korea. [12] He has, however, been reluctant to comment on politics and human rights in North Korea. [2]

Detention in China

In December 2018, China detained Spavor and Michael Kovrig, another Canadian national, on charges of endangering state security. The arrests came shortly after Canada had arrested Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei, in what turned into an escalating diplomatic row between the two countries. [12]

Spavor and Kovrig were reportedly held in isolation without being allowed outdoors, kept under lighting and surveillance 24 hours a day, with 6 to 8 hours of interrogations per day. [32] China allowed three consular visits as of February 1, 2019. [33] During Spavor's detention, his friends noticed suspicious activity on his social media accounts, leading them to believe Chinese interrogators were accessing his accounts. [34]

In mid-December 2018, a GoFundMe campaign was started to raise funds for Spavor to help with any legal and travel costs following his release, [35] but three weeks later on January 7, 2019, the crowdfunding platform terminated the campaign. [36] Though the campaign had raised CA$ 14,000 before being terminated, GoFundMe gave less than $500 to the designated beneficiary (Spavor's brother). [37] Though GoFundMe did not give an explanation, Spavor's friend speculated the reason might be Spavor's past promotion of tourism in North Korea, a country under US sanctions. [37]

Andrei Lankov, an expert on North Korea, expressed surprise over Spavor's arrest in this "hostage game", saying that Spavor "is from very humble origins [and] definitely not the son of a CEO of a major Canadian company". [38] Friends describe Spavor as "only pursuing his love for Korea" [39] and "not really interested in politics... more passionate about things on a smaller scale – people-to-people interactions, and friendship among citizens of different countries, regardless of geopolitical climate or issues". [40]

In the lead-up to the first high-level diplomatic talks between Chinese officials and American officials working for Joe Biden, Spavor's trial date was announced. On March 19, 2021, a two-hour closed court hearing for Spavor ended with no immediate verdict and Dandong Intermediate people's court stating that it would set a date to release a decision later. Because the case involved Chinese national security law, the chargé d'affaires at the Canadian Embassy in China was denied entry to provide consular assistance. Diplomats from the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Australia, Sweden and Germany also sought access but were denied. [41]

On August 10, 2021, a Chinese court sentenced Spavor to 11 years in prison and said that he would be deported, though it was unclear when. [8] With Meng Wanzhou's case dropped, Spavor was released shortly after on September 24, 2021 and return to Canada. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Jong Suk</span> Wife of Kim Il Sung (1917–1949)

Kim Jong Suk was a Korean anti-Japanese guerrilla, a Communist activist, North Korean leader Kim Il Sung's first wife, former leader Kim Jong Il's mother, and current leader Kim Jong Un's grandmother.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism in North Korea</span>

Tourism in North Korea is tightly controlled by the North Korean government. All tourism is organized by one of several state-owned tourism bureaus, including Korea International Travel Company (KITC), Korean International Sports Travel Company (KISTC), Korean International Taekwondo Tourism Company (KITTC) and Korean International Youth Travel Company (KIYTC). The majority of tourists are Chinese nationals: one 2019 estimate indicated that up to 120,000 Chinese tourists had visited North Korea in the previous year, compared to fewer than 5,000 from Western countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">China–North Korea relations</span> Bilateral relations

The bilateral relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) have been generally friendly, although they were sometimes strained in recent years because of North Korea's nuclear program. They have a close special relationship and China is often considered to be North Korea's closest ally. China and North Korea have a mutual aid and co-operation treaty, signed in 1961, which is currently the only defense treaty either country has with any nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada–China relations</span> Bilateral relations

Canada–China relations, or Sino-Canadian relations, officially date back to 1942, when Canada sent an ambassador to China. Before then, Canada had been represented by the British ambassador. The Communist victory (1949) in the Chinese Civil War resulted a break in relations that lasted until 1970, when Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau became one of the first Western leaders to recognize the People's Republic of China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada–South Korea relations</span> Bilateral relations

Canada–South Korea relations are foreign relations between Canada and the Republic of Korea. Canadian soldiers participated in the defense of South Korea during the Korean War. Full diplomatic relations between Canada and South Korea were established on January 14, 1963. Canada has an embassy in Seoul, and a consulate in Busan. South Korea has an embassy in Ottawa and three Consulates-General, in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Both nations are full members of APEC, OECD and the G20.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryongwang Pavilion</span> Pavilion in Pyongyang, North Korea

Ryongwang Pavilion is a scenic overlook located in the central district of Pyongyang, North Korea. Located on the bank of the Taedong River, the pavilion was first constructed during the Goguryeo dynasty as "Sansu Pavilion", and was part of the defenses of the walled city of Pyongyang. It is labeled as National Treasure #16 in North Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominic Barton</span> Canadian business executive and diplomat

Dominic Barton, known as Bao Damin in China, is a Ugandan-born Canadian business executive, author, and diplomat. He is the current chairman of the private investment firm LeapFrog Investments as well as the chancellor of the University of Waterloo. He served as the Canadian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China from 2019 to 2021. Prior to this, Barton was the Global Managing Director of McKinsey & Company, the global consulting firm, from 2009 to 2018 and has previously served as Chairman of Teck Resources and as Non-Executive Director at the Singtel Group in Singapore and Investor AB in Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National symbols of North Korea</span>

Upon its liberation in 1945 and subsequent foundation in 1948, North Korea adopted national symbols distinct from the national symbols of South Korea. The traditional flag of Korea, the Taegukgi, and the symbol Taeguk, were swapped for socialist symbols.

Kim Dong Chul is a Korean-American businessman who was imprisoned by the government of North Korea (DPRK) in October 2015 and sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for alleged espionage. Kim was one of three U.S. citizens imprisoned in that country to be released on May 9, 2018. The others were Tony Kim, also known as Kim Sang-duk, and Kim Hak-song.

Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location is a form of detention regularly used by authorities in the People's Republic of China against individuals accused of endangering state security. RSDL is usually carried out at special facilities run by the Public or State Security Bureaus of China, often euphemistically called "training centers," or even hotels that have been converted into black jails. Laws regulating RSDL contain exceptions that allow the state to not inform the family members of the detained about their loved one's incarceration, while also denying detainees access to a lawyer. On the surface, the measure appears to be a softer form of detention like house arrest; but in practice the measure allows for what one journalist calls "the disappearing" of suspects into secret detention."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geng Shuang</span> Chinese politician

Geng Shuang is a Chinese politician serving as China's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He formerly served as the deputy director of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meng Wanzhou</span> Chinese business executive

Meng Wanzhou, also known as Cathy Meng and Sabrina Meng, also informally known in China as the "Princess of Huawei", is a Chinese business executive. She is the deputy chair of the board and chief financial officer (CFO) of Huawei, which was founded by her father Ren Zhengfei.

<i>Claws of the Panda</i> 2019 non-fiction book by Jonathan Manthorpe

Claws of the Panda: Beijing's Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada is a 2019 book by Jonathan Manthorpe about Canada's foreign relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in Canada. Manthorpe argues that Canada and the PRC have a clash of values and that Canada has been a victim of multiple abuses by Beijing including spying, abductions, human rights abuses, intellectual property theft, monitoring and intimidating Chinese Canadians and Chinese dissidents, and other attempts to influence Canadian policy. His thesis is that the PRC has been able to implement such policies for a number of years due to naivete by Canadian policy makers. In the book, Manthorpe advocates for a change in Canadian foreign policy towards the PRC.

Jong Kyong-thaek is a North Korean politician. He served as the Minister of State Security from 2018 to 2022, a member of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), an alternate member of the Politburo of the WPK, and a member of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea.

Hostage diplomacy, also hostage-diplomacy, is the taking of hostages for diplomatic purposes.

The Schellenberg smuggling incident is a case in which Canadian citizen Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was tried and convicted to capital punishment on charges of smuggling drugs in the People's Republic of China, which Canada "condemned in the strongest possible terms".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Detention of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig</span> 2018–2021 detention of Canadians in China

In December 2018, Canadian nationals Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig were taken into custody in China. It appeared that their detention on December 10 and subsequent indictment under the state secrets law were linked to the arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, in Canada on December 1. In English-language media, the pair are frequently and colloquially referred to as the Two Michaels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Extradition case of Meng Wanzhou</span> Canadian legal dispute

On December 1, 2018, Meng Wanzhou, the board deputy chairperson and daughter of the founder of the Chinese multinational technology corporation Huawei, was detained upon arrival at Vancouver International Airport by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers for questioning, which lasted three hours. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police subsequently arrested her on a provisional U.S. extradition request for fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud in order to circumvent U.S. sanctions against Iran. On January 28, 2019, the United States Department of Justice formally announced financial fraud charges against Meng. The first stage of the extradition hearing for Meng began Monday, January 20, 2020, and concluded on May 27, 2020, when the Supreme Court of British Columbia ordered the extradition to proceed.

Alek Sigley is an Australian national who was detained in North Korea in 2019 on espionage charges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beijing State Security Bureau</span> Part of the Chinese Ministry of State Security

The Beijing State Security Bureau is a municipal bureau of the Chinese Ministry of State Security tasked with national security, intelligence and secret policing in the country's capital. Like other state security bureaus, the Beijing bureau is semi-autonomous from the national headquarters of the MSS located across the city. Established in May 1984 from parts of the Beijing public security bureau, the bureau has been accused of numerous human rights abuses, and has been involved in the arrest of journalists, jailing of dissidents, torture of businessmen, and was responsible for abducting the "two Michael's" used as hostages in exchange for Canada's release of Huawei CFO Meng Wangzhou.

References

  1. ↑ Pollard, Martin Quin; Ljunggren, David; Ljunggren, David; Scherer, Steve; Scherer, Steve (March 19, 2021). "Trudeau condemns Canadian's trial held behind closed doors in China". Reuters.
  2. 1 2 "Michael Spavor: The detained Canadian close to Kim Jong-un". BBC News. December 13, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  3. ↑ News, Bloomberg (September 26, 2021). "Huawei CFO gets hero's welcome; Canadians land quietly". National Post. Retrieved September 30, 2021.{{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  4. ↑ "Cocktails with Kim Jong Un: the Canadian jailed in China for spying". France 24. August 11, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  5. ↑ 北朝鮮交流事業のマイケル・スパバ氏 中国でのVIP待遇から一転スパイ罪（1/2）. KoreaWorldTimes (in Japanese). June 30, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  6. ↑ Clarke, Donald (December 17, 2018). "China is holding two Canadians as hostages. It's not even denying it". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  7. 1 2 Buckley, Chris; Bilefsky, Dan; Sherlock, Tracy (August 10, 2021). "China Sentences Canadian Businessman to 11 Years in Prison". The New York Times. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
  8. 1 2 Crossley, Gabriel (August 10, 2021). "Chinese Court Convicts Canadian Michael Spavor on Charge of Espionage". Reuters. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
  9. 1 2 "China releases detained Canadians Kovrig, Spavor after extradition against Meng Wanzhou dropped". September 24, 2021.
  10. ↑ "Spavor blames fellow prisoner Kovrig for Chinese detention, alleges he was used for intelligence gathering". The Globe and Mail. November 18, 2023.
  11. 1 2 "About PCE - DPRK Academic Exchanges | DPRK Cultural Exchange | DPRK Investments". Paektuculturalexchange.org. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Smith, Josh; Ljunggren, David (December 13, 2018). "Detained in China: Canadian businessman known for ties to North Korean leader". Reuters. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  13. ↑ Michael Spavor. "Interview with the late Joe Dresnok's two sons about their father's death and legacy. (And my chance meeting with him) | the Paektu blog". Paektuculturalexchange.org. Archived from the original on January 31, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  14. ↑ Michael Spavor. "PART 3: FINDING FUJIMOTO: How Fujimoto and I first met | the Paektu blog". Paektuculturalexchange.org. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  15. ↑ An, Sonjae (2013). "2013 COUNCIL THE KOREA BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY" (PDF). Transactions. 88: 4.
  16. ↑ "Hanok, built by nature". G-Korea. No. 2. Arirang. January 16, 2010. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  17. ↑ Carruth, David (July 2010). "North of the Border". No. 10. 10 Magazine. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  18. ↑ Lee, Jeong-ho (December 14, 2018). "DEC 14 2018 TRANSLATING CHINA POLITICS He built a career on North Korea. Now China's come for him" . Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  19. ↑ Fifield, Anna (March 25, 2017). "North Korea's leader is a lot of things – but irrational is not one of them". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  20. ↑ "The Canadian behind Dennis Rodman's travels in North Korea". Macleans.ca. December 1, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  21. ↑ https://nationalpost.com/opinion/adam-zivo-it-turns-out-it-was-one-michael-and-another-michael
  22. ↑ "Spavor blames fellow prisoner Kovrig for Chinese detention, alleges he was used for intelligence gathering". The Globe and Mail. November 18, 2023.
  23. ↑ https://nationalpost.com/opinion/adam-zivo-it-turns-out-it-was-one-michael-and-another-michael
  24. ↑ "Spavor blames fellow prisoner Kovrig for Chinese detention, alleges he was used for intelligence gathering". The Globe and Mail. November 18, 2023.
  25. ↑ https://nationalpost.com/opinion/adam-zivo-it-turns-out-it-was-one-michael-and-another-michael
  26. ↑ "Spavor blames fellow prisoner Kovrig for Chinese detention, alleges he was used for intelligence gathering". The Globe and Mail. November 18, 2023.
  27. ↑ Mark Paul (January 22, 2016). "Paddy Power's Pyongyang problem". Irishtimes.com. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  28. ↑ Dunbar, Jon (March 21, 2016). "Ideological barrier melts down with skating, shooting and body checks". The Korea Times. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  29. ↑ Dunbar, Jon (March 3, 2016). "Canadian brings hockey to North Korea". The Korea Times. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  30. ↑ Cheng, Eun-Young Jeong and Jonathan (February 15, 2018). "At the Olympics, It's Not Just North Koreans Rooting for North Korea". Wall Street Journal– via www.wsj.com.
  31. ↑ "4-Day Pyongyang, Mass Games, Trade Fair, DMZ & Film Festival Tour". Paektu Cultural Exchange. Archived from the original on February 22, 2020. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
  32. ↑ Vanderklippe, Nathan (April 10, 2019). "Two Canadians detained in China for four months prevented from going outside, official says" . Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  33. ↑ "Detained Canadian Michael Spavor gets third consular visit in China". February 1, 2019. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  34. ↑ Hotham, Oliver (January 2, 2019). "DPRK consultant's social media activity hints at invasive Chinese interrogation" . Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  35. ↑ Small, Kaylen (December 18, 2018). "GoFundMe campaign created for Michael Spavor, Canadian detained in China" . Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  36. ↑ Bronskill, Jim (January 7, 2019). "Friend worried about detained Canadian after fundraising effort shut down".
  37. 1 2 "GoFundMe pulls campaign for Michael Spavor, detained Canadian, after thousands raised". The Globe and Mail. January 6, 2019.
  38. ↑ Berlinger, Joshua (December 13, 2018). "Second Canadian detained in China as diplomatic spat intensifies". CNN. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  39. ↑ Dunbar, Jon (December 20, 2018). "China, release our friend". The Korea Times. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  40. ↑ Zwetsloot, Jacco (December 30, 2018). "My life at a Korean law firm (part 44)". The Korea Times. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  41. ↑ "Michael Spavor's trial in China ends without a ruling". CBC News . Thomson Reuters. March 18, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.