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North Korean Defector Journalist Officially Listed as South Korean Detainee

South Korea's unification ministry has officially recognized North Korean defector-turned-journalist Ham Jin-woo as one of seven South Korean citizens detained in North Korea. Ham disappeared in May 2017 while reporting on the North Korea-China border for a media outlet focused on the North. A UN report details he was abducted by men who crossed from North Korea into China, leading to a physical confrontation. The whereabouts of several other detained defectors and missionaries held since 2014 and 2016 remain unknown.

Key Points: Defector-Turned-Journalist Recognized as N. Korea Detainee

  • Defector added to detainee list
  • Missing since 2017 border reporting
  • Seven South Koreans held in North
  • Abducted from Chinese territory
  • UN report details kidnapping
2 min read

North Korea defector-turned-journalist officially recognised by govt as South Korean detainee in Pyongyang

South Korea officially adds defector journalist Ham Jin-woo to list of citizens detained in North Korea after his 2017 disappearance near the border.

"Ham is believed to have been arrested by North Korean authorities while covering North-China border areas - Unification Ministry"

Seoul, March 11

Ham Jin-woo, a North Korean defector-turned-journalist who went missing in 2017 in border areas between North Korea and China, has been officially recognised by the government as one of seven South Koreans detained in the North, officials said on Wednesday.

The unification ministry has newly added Ham to the list of South Koreans held captive in North Korea after consulting with relevant government agencies, according to a ministry official.

North Korea has detained seven South Koreans -- three missionaries of Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kook-kie and Choi Chun-gil, as well as four North Korean defectors who obtained South Korean nationality, according to the unification ministry's website. The names of the four defectors were not disclosed on the webpage.

Ham is believed to have been arrested by North Korean authorities while covering North-China border areas in May 2017 as a journalist of a North Korea-focused media outlet.

At a press conference in December last year, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young unveiled a plan to add Ham to the list of the South Korean detainees in the North.

Kim Jung-wook and the two other missionaries have been detained in North Korea since 2014 on anti-state charges for what Pyongyang called spying for Seoul's spy agency. The whereabouts of the three other North Korean defectors are not known since they were held captive in 2016, Yonhap news agency reported.

Ham Jin Woo, a reporter was abducted on May 29, 2017, while he was reporting on the Chinese side of the China-North Korea border between Sanhe, Longjin in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of China and Hoiryong City, North Korea, according to a report submitted to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances by Eunkyong Kwon, Ham's former colleague and secretary general of the North Korea-focused human rights group ICNK.

According to the report, Ham's family had said that his Korean-Chinese taxi driver witnessed an argument and physical confrontation between Ham and two men who had crossed into China from North Korea who then dragged the journalist over the border to North Korea.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

R
Rohit P
Reading this sends a chill down my spine. We in India often discuss border security, and this shows how dangerous border regions can be, especially with unpredictable neighbors. Those poor missionaries and defectors have been held for years without a trace. The international community's response feels very weak.
A
Aman W
While the situation is tragic, I have to ask: what was a journalist, especially a former defector, doing reporting so close to that border? It seems incredibly risky. I hope for his safe return, but this is a stark reminder that some areas are just too volatile for such work, no matter how important the story is.
S
Sarah B
The fact that it took from 2017 until now for the government to officially add him to the list is concerning. What about the other three defectors whose names aren't even disclosed? Bureaucracy moves too slowly when lives are at stake. South Korea needs to be more proactive.
V
Vikram M
This is why strong diplomatic channels are so crucial. India has had its own challenges with citizens detained abroad. The families of these seven people must be living in agony, not knowing their fate. Hope there is a quiet diplomatic effort going on behind the scenes to bring them home.
K
Kavya N
The bravery of defectors-turned-activists or journalists is immense. They risk everything to tell the truth. Ham Jin-woo's story is a powerful, sad example. It makes you appreciate the freedoms we have here. We shouldn't take them for granted. 🙏

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