ID :
183318
Fri, 05/20/2011 - 11:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/183318
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea kidnapped S. Korean military officers in 1999: ex-journalist
SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) -- A former journalist told a Seoul court that North Korea kidnapped two South Korean colonel-level officers and arrested two others in 1999 when they apparently were on secret missions in China and the North, court officials said Friday.
The ex-journalist, only identified by surname Jeong, made the testimony during a trial of a former South Korean spy, who was arrested last June on charges of handing over military secrets to the North, at the Seoul High Court on Thursday, officials said.
Jeong replied "Yes" in response to a defense lawyer's question as to whether he has knowledge that North Korea kidnapped and arrested the four South Korean military officers more than a decade ago.
According to the defense lawyer's question, one lieutenant colonel and one colonel were kidnapped near the Chinese border with the North and two colonels were arrested in the North at the time.
Jeong had worked as a journalist for a South Korean newspaper specializing in North Korean matters.
In a telephone interview with Yonhap News Agency on Friday, however, Jeong played down the issue.
"I just told the court that I heard such words at that time, but I didn't say whether they were true or not," Jeong said.
Jeong said he stopped digging into the issue because it was "not worth reporting in terms of national interest."
He said he won't reveal how he got the information.
There is a long history of espionage between the Koreas, which are still technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.
Officials at the South's Defense Ministry declined to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, the former South Korean spy was sentenced to seven years in jail last December on charges of handing over the South's classified military secrets to the North between 2003 and 2005.
The former spy, who is identified by surname Park and was recruited by North Korea while working in China, is widely known as "Heukgeumseong," or "Black Venus," in South Korea.
The ex-journalist, only identified by surname Jeong, made the testimony during a trial of a former South Korean spy, who was arrested last June on charges of handing over military secrets to the North, at the Seoul High Court on Thursday, officials said.
Jeong replied "Yes" in response to a defense lawyer's question as to whether he has knowledge that North Korea kidnapped and arrested the four South Korean military officers more than a decade ago.
According to the defense lawyer's question, one lieutenant colonel and one colonel were kidnapped near the Chinese border with the North and two colonels were arrested in the North at the time.
Jeong had worked as a journalist for a South Korean newspaper specializing in North Korean matters.
In a telephone interview with Yonhap News Agency on Friday, however, Jeong played down the issue.
"I just told the court that I heard such words at that time, but I didn't say whether they were true or not," Jeong said.
Jeong said he stopped digging into the issue because it was "not worth reporting in terms of national interest."
He said he won't reveal how he got the information.
There is a long history of espionage between the Koreas, which are still technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.
Officials at the South's Defense Ministry declined to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, the former South Korean spy was sentenced to seven years in jail last December on charges of handing over the South's classified military secrets to the North between 2003 and 2005.
The former spy, who is identified by surname Park and was recruited by North Korea while working in China, is widely known as "Heukgeumseong," or "Black Venus," in South Korea.
