Seoul prosecutors have today detained and indicted a 50-year old North Korean man on charges of entering South Korea disguised as a defector in violation of the National Security Law. The man had previously been working to unmask refugees living in China.
According to state prosecutors, the man known only as Kim spent more than ten years living in China before receiving orders in March this year to proceed to South Korea and attempt to obtain information on defectors living in the country. However, he was caught in the process of attempting to enter.
Kim had previously lived and worked around Dalian, Shenyang, Changchun and Yanji, all Chinese cities in the vicinity of North Korea. He had received awards from the North Korean authorities for his work, including the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel and the Order of the National Flag.
Notably, he is believed to have received orders to assassinate Kim Jong Il’s first son Kim Jong Nam and make it look like a traffic accident, and to encourage defectors in South Korea to return to the North.
