Boeing spy trial underway

Chung, who is free on $250,000 bail, is charged with six counts of economic
espionage, one count of lying to a federal agent and one count each of conspiracy,
acting as a foreign agent and obstruction of justice.

Defense attorney Kenneth Miller, in documents filed with the court, said government
prosecutors must prove that Chung, among other things, knowingly stole information he
knew was a trade secret, that Boeing took reasonable measures to keep
the information secret and that the information derives independent economic value
from not being generally known to -- and not being readily ascertainable by proper
means by -- the public.

U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney will decide the case without a jury. The trial is
expected to last about two weeks, lawyers said.

Chung, a native of China and naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested at his home on
Feb. 11, 2008 and posted bond the same day.

Chung was employed by Rockwell International from 1973 until its defense and space
unit was acquired by Boeing in 1996. He retired in 2002 but returned the
next year as a contractor and held that position until September 2006, prosecutors
said.

According to the indictment, individuals in the Chinese aviation industry began
sending Chung "tasking" letters as early as 1979. Over the years, the letters
directed him to collect specific technological information, including data related to
the Space Shuttle and various military and civilian aircraft, prosecutors allege.

According to the trial memo, agents found more than 250,000 pages of documents
dealing with aerospace and defense technology during searches of Chung's home on
Sept. 11, 2006, and Nov. 7, 2006. He made several trips to China between 1985 and
2004, giving lectures on the Space Shuttle and defense technology.

Chung was born in China in 1936 and moved to Taiwan in 1948. He came to the United
States in 1962, graduating from the University of Minnesota a year later with a
master's degree in civil engineering. After a year of working at a firm in
Philadelphia, he was hired by Boeing and worked as a stress analyst on
the airframe and rotor hub for the CH-47 helicopter.

He moved to McDonnell Douglas in 1969, which he worked as a strength engineer on the
wing structure of the DC-10, and on the wing and armament support for the F-15
fighter.

Chung became a naturalized citizen in 1972. A year later he began working at Rockwell
in Downey.

The space division was acquired by Boeing in 1996, and Chung transferred to Huntington Beach in 1999.

He was laid off when he did not elect to move with his department, which was working
on the Space Shuttle, to Houston, but was brought back as a contractor to help in
evaluating the crash of the Columbia orbiter in February 2003, according to the trial
memo. He remained at Boeing until his home was searched in September
2006, and was fired.

The Chung investigation started during a probe of Chi Mak, a resident of
Downey who was employed as an electrical engineer by Power Paragon in
Anaheim.

Mak was convicted of passing sensitive information to China on submarine technology,
was sentenced to 24 years in prison. Four family members received lesser terms.

Chung said he met Mak in 1992 through a mutual friend, who was later identified as Gu
Weihao of the Chinese Ministry of Aviation. Prosecutors allege that one letter found,
dated May 2, 1987, from Gu Weihao told Chung that any information Chung gathered
could be given to Mak, who was a "safe" channel.