South Korea's spy agency yesterday warned the country's top activist seeking the return of compatriots abducted by Pyongyang that agents from North Korea might try to attack him.
The National Intelligence Service said it delivered the warning to Choi Sung-yong, leader of a group of South Koreans whose relatives are believed to have been kidnapped to the North, after receiving a tip from a North Korean defector.
"We relayed this information to Choi to awaken caution as security of his office isn't good enough," the agency said in a prepared statement read to a reporter over the phone by an agency spokesman who declined to give his name.
Choi, 54, has led the relatives' association known as Come Back Home since 2000. He confirmed receiving the warning from the intelligence agency and the unidentified North Korean defector a few days ago.
"This isn't the first time," Choi said. "I've heard this kind of thing several times before, but this time it seems like the strongest. I feel threatened."
Choi asked to speak via cellphone rather than his office phone, saying he was concerned about wiretapping, and that he had been carrying a tear-gas gun since receiving a similar warning in July. It wasn't immediately clear whether the government would provide security to him.
Reports of North Korean agents suspected of attacking targets in the South are rare.
In 1997, Lee Han-young, a cousin of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il who defected to the South, was fatally shot in the head by unidentified gunmen outside his apartment near Seoul. North Korea was widely believed to be behind the attack but no arrests were made.
Choi -- whose father was abducted to North Korea aboard his fishing boat in 1967 -- said his vocal criticism of the communist regime and efforts to repatriate South Koreans believed to be held in the North may have angered Pyongyang. He has also participated in efforts to help North Koreans hiding in China after fleeing the communist state.
A total of 486 South Korean civilians, mostly fishermen, are believed to be held in the North after being abducted since the 1950-1953 Korean War. South Korea's government also estimates that 538 soldiers from the war were alive in the North as of last December.
North Korea denies holding any war prisoners and says the civilians defected voluntarily.
Choi has urged the government to do more to bring abductees and prisoners of war (POWs) home and was upset over his government's repatriation on Sunday of the body of an ex-communist spy to the North a day after his death.
Chung Soon-taek died of pancreatic cancer at age 84, and his body was then handed over at Pyongyang's request.
"This government sends the body of the long-term prisoner right away while saying nothing when our nationals die," he said. "Does this make sense?"
Chung was among 29 former communist spies and guerrillas living in the South after serving long prison terms. All have asked to return to the North and Pyongyang has demanded their repatriation.
But Seoul has refused, linking the issue to South Korean POWs and civilian abductees.
The two Koreas are still technically in a state of war as the Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
A ship that appears to be taking on the identity of a scrapped gas carrier exited the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, showing how strategies to get through the waterway are evolving as the Middle East war progresses. The vessel identifying as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Jamal left the Strait on Friday morning, ship-tracking data show. However, the same tanker was also recorded as having beached at an Indian demolition yard in October last year, where it is being broken up, according to market participants and port agent’s reports. The ship claiming to be Jamal is likely a zombie vessel that
Cannabis-based medicines have shown little evidence of effectiveness for treating most mental health and substance-use disorders, according to a large review of past studies published in a major medical journal on Monday. Medical use of cannabinoids has been expanding, including in the US, Canada and Australia, where many patients report using cannabis products to manage conditions such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep problems. Researchers reviewed data from 54 randomized clinical trials conducted between 1980 and May last year involving 2,477 participants for their analysis published in The Lancet. The studies assessed cannabinoids as a primary treatment for mental disorders or substance-use
NATIONWIDE BLACKOUT: US President Donald Trump cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba, strangling the Caribbean island’s already antiquated grid Cuba’s national electric grid collapsed on Monday, the nation’s grid operator said, leaving about 10 million people without power amid a US-imposed oil blockade that has crippled the already obsolete generation system. Grid operator UNE on social media said that it is investigating the causes of the blackout, the latest in a series of widespread outages that last for hours or days and that this weekend sparked a rare violent protest in the communist-run nation. Officials ruled out a major power plant failure, but had still not pinpointed the root cause of the grid collapse, suggesting a problem with transmission. Officials said that
CONSERVING FUEL: State institutions are to operate only four days a week starting tomorrow, with the measures also applying to schools and universities Sri Lanka on Monday announced a shorter working week to conserve its scarce fuel reserves as it prepares for a prolonged war in the Middle East. The Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which about 20 percent of global exports pass in peacetime, has been effectively closed by Iran in retaliation over the US and Israeli war against it, now in its third week. Sri Lankan Commissioner-General of Essential Services Prabath Chandrakeerthi said state institutions would operate only four days a week starting tomorrow. The new austerity measures would also apply to schools and universities, and would remain in place indefinitely. “We are
RSS