He turned up at a safe house that day, saying he wanted help seeking asylum. The missionary asked for a statement, so he scribbled down his name, date of birth and hometown in Korean.
“Wife, two daughters. Sent to Russia in October 1997,” he wrote, using the North Korean spelling for “Russia.” He dated it March 9 this year and signed his name with an emphatic period in his characteristic North Korean script.
The note was obtained by the Associated Press after being scanned and sent by e-mail from Vladivostok to Seoul. Activists asked that he be identified by his surname only to protect his family.
The group Human Rights in Russia said on its Web site that a North Korean named Kim who had sought help from the International Organization for Migrants was waiting in a car outside a Vladivostok hotel to speak to rights officials.
“At this time, another car pulled up to the hotel. Several men in civilian dress got out of it and told the driver of the car that his ‘passenger is a criminal,’” the group’s statement said.
They put handcuffs on Kim, sat him in their car and drove off.
It was unclear who took him, and where they went, it said.
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