ICC Note: South Korean government confirmed the identity of a North Korean defector surnamed Park, who reportedly is held captive in the DPRK after being kidnapped by Pyongyang in 2016. Park, a former ice hockey player for DPRK made several TV appearances in South Korea, defected to South Korea in 2014. Among the other detainees, Kim Jong Uk, who was detained in October 2013, and Kim Kuk Gi and Choe Chun Gil, who have been held in captivity since 2014 are all Christian missionaries.
12/19/2017 North Korea (NK News) – The South Korean government on Tuesday confirmed the identity a North Korean defector reportedly held captive in the DPRK after being kidnapped by Pyongyang.
The Ministry of Unification (MOU) told NK News that the defector, surnamed Park, was one of six South Koreans who have been detained in the DPRK.
An MOU official – who wished to remain anonymous – made the comment in response to questions about a Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) story from Monday night that said Pyongyang had abducted a defector in China.
“The abductee who appeared in the media report is one of the North Korean detainees,” the official told NK News. “But we can’t confirm the detailed personal information and the process of detention.”
The government said that three of the six detainees are North Korean defectors, including Ko Hyon Chol, who was arrested in Pyongyang in July 2016. The North’s state media has not reported on Park and the third defector.
Among the other known detainees are Christian missionaries Kim Jong Uk, who was detained in October 2013, and Kim Kuk Gi and Choe Chun Gil, who have been held in captivity since 2014.
But the South Korean government hasn’t made any progress on securing the detainees’ release mainly because the two Koreas have no official communication channel.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) said last Tuesday that the organization sent out a letter last month to petition the UN to investigate the cases of the six South Korean detainees in the North.
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