A South Korean who escaped from the North last month after more than half a century as a POW has been sent back by China to Pyongyang's custody, a Seoul Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday. But a Seoul-based group working with the families of South Korean abductees said it was not entirely convinced that Han Man-taek, believed to be 72, had actually been returned.
"China has officially notified us that the prisoner of war has been repatriated to the North," a Foreign Ministry official said by telephone.
"We have made a protest, but China said he had been returned before our government became aware of the case," he said.
China and North Korea have a bilateral agreement to repatriate refugees crossing into China.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said Han had fled the North in late December, only to be arrested soon afterwards while staying in a hotel in north-eastern China where he had arranged to meet relatives from South Korea.
After learning of his arrest, the agency said, Seoul had notified Beijing on 30 December that Han was a South Korean POW and should not be sent back to the North.
"Despite the request, Han was forced to go back to the communist state and the Chinese government is claiming the repatriation was made 'right before' it received the request from Seoul, according to the ministry official," Yonhap said.
"What China is saying is Han has been returned less than 48 hours after his capture," said Choi Sung-ryong of the non-government group helping abductees' families.
He said Beijing normally took several days to question people believed to have defected from the North.
"That is very unusual and sounds like a lie," Choi said, adding that China might be reacting "emotionally" after a spat earlier this month over a news briefing by South Korean lawmakers that was broken up by Chinese security agents.
Choi himself is the son of an abducted South Korean fisherman.
The Seoul government protested at the lawmakers' treatment, but Beijing retorted that the briefing had not been authorised and the legislators had been trying to incite illegal activity.
Choi said more checking was needed for him and Han's family to be convinced that he had indeed been returned to the North.
If China's statement is confirmed, Han's would be the first such case.
Beijing allowed another escaped South Korean POW, 72-year-old Jeon Yong-il, to travel to the South in December 2003.
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