South Korean police on Tuesday applied for an arrest warrant for an internet media reporter over a controversial report alleging that 99 Chinese spies were apprehended at a National Election Commission (NEC) facility during former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived imposition of martial law on December 3, 2024, the Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday. 

The reporter, whose identity is withheld, is accused of obstructing the NEC's official duties by publishing a false article, Yonhap said, citing the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

The reporter published a post on online platform Sky Daily falsely claimed that 99 Chinese spies had been arrested at the NEC by the Martial Law Command late in the night of December 3, 2024, and early the next morning, the Korea Herald said. The report offered no evidence and did not cite specific sources for its claims, according to the South Korean media report. 

The Korea Herald also pointed out that Sky Daily is notorious for making false claims with far-right political inclinations. 

The NEC requested a police investigation, and the person who wrote the post is facing a charge of obstruction of performance of official duties by fraudulent means, stipulated in Article 137 of the South Korean Criminal Act as interfering with public official duties via falsehood, according to the Korea Herald. 

US Forces Korea denied report in January spread by Sky Daily claiming that 99 Chinese spies were captured by US forces and sent to Japan when martial law was invoked, stating that such allegations are "entirely false," South Korea media reported.

Anti-China sentiment is spreading among far-right conservatives in South Korea amid the martial law fiasco, Korea Times reported earlier.

Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Dai Bing said in a post on X in February that China always adheres to the principle of non-interference in other countries' internal affairs and opposes relating South Korea's internal issues with China for no reason.