PO1 William "Chip" Nagel "Ahn was arrested in 2019 as a member of the group Free Joseon. The group, whose name means "Free North Korea," opposes the Kim regime and has helped several high-level North Koreans defect. He was allegedly part of a small group in the plan to help North Korea's ambassador in Spain in Madrid to flee, but the diplomat had a last-minute change of heart. For his role, Ahn has been told Kim Jong Un has put a target on his back. His supporters fear that he could be taken out by a North Korean hit squad or even kidnapped if extradited, taken to Pyongyang for a show trial, and executed in public for his anti-regime activities.

"The whole reason why we went in there, and the whole reason why I participated is because I wanted to help people," Ahn said.

Prosecutors are moving ahead based on a complaint from Spanish authorities. They claim that Ahn and the small group of activists broke into the embassy before tying up and beating some of the diplomats.

But Ahn’s supporters say the activists were invited into the building as part of an agreed-upon plan with the North Korean diplomats inside.

The extradition process began during the Trump administration and has continued since, despite the Spanish complaint being entirely based on the claims of the North Koreans. Ahn and his legal team say Kim's diplomats are not believable because they would have a life-and-death incentive to lie and deny they wanted to defect."