South Korea warns of risk North may abduct citizens abroad

By Jack Kim

Flags of China and North Korea are seen outside the close Ryugyong Korean Restaurant in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, China, April 12, 2016

South Korea said on Monday it was on guard for the possibility North Korea may try to snatch its citizens abroad or conduct "terrorist acts" after the North accused it of abducting North Korean workers from a restaurant in China.

"All measures of precaution" were in place for the safety of South Koreans abroad including an order to beef up security at diplomatic missions, said the South's Unification Ministry, which handles issues related to the North.

"We are on alert for the possibility that the North may try to abduct our citizens or conduct terrorist acts abroad," ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told a briefing.

The two Korea's have been fierce rivals since the 1950-53 Korean War and tension on the peninsula has been high since January when North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test. It followed that with a string of missile tests in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

South Korea said in April 13 North Korean workers at a restaurant run by the North in China had defected. North Korea accused the South of a "hideous abduction".

North Korea proposed sending family members of the 13 to South Korea for face-to-face meetings but the South rejected the suggestion.

About 29,000 people have left North Korea and arrived in the South since the Korean war, including 1,276 last year, with numbers declining since a 2009 peak. In the first quarter of this year, 342 North Koreans arrived in the South.

From:

Kim, Jack. "South Korea warns of risk North may abduct citizens abroad." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 2 May 2016. Web. 2 May 2016.

Response

The Powerful and Prosperous Nation may be up to old tricks again. The supposed threat, of course, does seem retaliatory in nature when viewed with the recent defections that occurred in China, but nonetheless, it represents yet another unwelcome disturbance in North-South relations.

The incident has provoked an unusually strong response from the South, presumably due to the increasing pressure President Park Guen-hye's administration is facing at home. Another interesting dynamic that has been put into play is China's role in all of this. With Park warming up to Xi Jinping and Beijing cooling its support for North Korea, it will be interesting to discover the extent of China's involvement in the affair and its response (if any). 

As expected, the article is biased against North Korea. From the title to the sparse supporting details, the writer places too much emphasis on a few vague statements released by South Korea in response to a threat that is not even mentioned. The real news is the defections, but no details concerning them are forthcoming.