Kidnapping Risk

[Anchor Lead]

Early this month, Chinese intelligence officials obtained information that North Korea may try to kidnap South Korean nationals, and urged 12 entrepreneurs and clergymen who were the likely targets of kidnapping to return to their home country. The information was obtained as China has intensified surveillance of North Korea's activities in the border area as part of its unprecedented efforts to implement tough sanctions on Pyongyang.

[Pkg]

Chinese police say that 12 South Korean nationals may be the targets of kidnapping and terrorism. Most of them are entrepreneurs and clergymen who currently reside in the border area between North Korea and China. Chinese intelligence officials obtained this information early this month and drew up a list of possible targets. During the Chuseok holiday, they summoned the 12 South Koreans and urged them to return to their home country.

[Soundbite] (S. Korean residing in China (Voice modified)) : "I received a call from Chinese authorities telling me to stay in South Korea for the time being. But I can't leave now."

The possible targets of terrorism also include Chinese nationals who have ties to South Koreans. South Korean authorities have been stepping up efforts to protect its citizens residing in China. The South Korean consulate in Shenyang urged them to avoid strangers and notify them of their whereabouts when going outside. The Foreign Ministry last month summoned its intelligence officials stationed in China to discuss measures to prepare for possible terrorist attacks. Last year, a Chinese-Korean pastor who helped North Korean defectors was murdered in the border area between North Korea and China, while a 60-something South Korean national who went missing in May in Yanji is still unaccounted for.