North Korean Abductions of Japanese Citizens - Other Abductions By North Korea

Other Abductions By North Korea

See also: North Korean abductions of South Koreans

North Korea has also perpetrated abductions in South Korea, which has the highest number of citizens abducted by the North. The number of South Korean abductees is put at 485 or 486.

In December 1969, a Korean Air Lines YS-11 was hijacked by a North Korean agent soon after taking off from Gangneung. The pilot was forced to fly to and land in North Korea. The crew, aircraft, and seven of the passengers have yet to be returned. North Korea claims that this was an act of asylum by the pilot, but it is considered to be another case of abduction.

In the 1970s, many women were abducted from Lebanon and in July 1977 there was an attempt to abduct a Korean pianist/actress and her spouse from Yugoslavia. There were also incidents in which South Korean high school students were abducted.

There are testimonies that several others have been abducted, including two Chinese (Macao), two Dutch, three French, three Italians, a Jordanian, four Malaysians and a Singaporean.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights has begun investigations on the Korean abductees. Abductee Hitomi Soga has also testified that citizens of Romania and Thailand were among the abductees. The family of an abduction victim from Thailand has been identified and the Japanese government is working with the Thai government to resolve the issue.

According to the Committee for Democratisation of North Korea (CDNK), North Korean agents are also believed to have abducted roughly 200 citizens of the People's Republic of China from the late 1990s onwards, mostly ethnic Koreans from frontier towns in northeast China who provided aid to North Korean defectors. The kidnap victims were then imprisoned in North Korea. The Chinese government reportedly has not officially requested the repatriation of any of these victims, a policy the CDNK describes as aimed at preserving harmony in the countries' bilateral relations.

The disappearance of American student David Sneddon in China in 2004 is also claimed by some to be due to a Korean abduction.