Ex-Marine arrested in North Korea embassy attack in Madrid

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man suspected of involvement in a mysterious dissident group's February raid on North Korea's Embassy in Madrid was arrested in Los Angeles by U.S. authorities.

Christopher Ahn, a former U.S. Marine, was arrested and charged Friday, according to a person familiar with the matter. The specific charges against Ahn were not immediately clear.

The person could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Separately, on Thursday, federal agents raided the apartment of Adrian Hong, a leader of the Free Joseon group, the person said. Hong was not arrested.

Free Joseon, also known as the Cheollima Civil Defense group, styles itself as a government-in-exile dedicated to toppling the ruling Kim family dynasty in North Korea.

The group said it consists of North Korean defectors living in countries around the world, but that it has not worked with or contacted defectors "living under tight security" in South Korea.

Lee Wolosky, a lawyer for the group, said in a statement that he was "dismayed that the U.S. Department of Justice has decided to execute warrants against U.S. persons that derive from criminal complaints filed by the North Korean regime."

"The last U.S. citizen who fell into the custody of the Kim regime returned home maimed from torture and did not survive," Wolosky said, referring to college student Otto Warmbier's 2017 death.

"We have received no assurances from the U.S. government about the safety and security of the U.S. nationals it is now targeting," he added.

A Spanish police investigator in the case told The Associated Press in Madrid on Saturday that Ahn was identified by the Spanish police at a later stage of its investigation into the Feb. 22 raid and that an international arrest...