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A DPRK student has sought refuge at the South Korean consulate in Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday, citing government sources in the city.
According to the Post, the student is understood to be a member of a North Korean delegation that attended an academic competition at a Hong Kong university about two weeks ago.
Security is believed to have been stepped up at the Far East Finance Center, center in gold, where the South Korean consulate is located. Photo: SCMP
Security has been stepped up around the South Korean consulate and police have boosted patrols around the area in the city's central business district, the newspaper cited government sources as saying. It is said that government sources revealed yesterday that since last week, police had boosted patrols around the Far East Finance Centre in Harcourt Road, Admiralty, with the focus on Seoul’s mission on the fifth floor.
The South China Morning Post said that sources with the knowledge of the case said police from the counter-terrorism division were liaising with the Security Bureau after the awkward diplomatic issue surfaced.
“The Admiralty site is one of the areas where police have enhanced patrols in the city,” one source said, while refusing to go into further details for security reasons.
Photos showed police vehicles line up outside the building. Photo: The Chosunilbo
Yesterday evening, a police van was seen parked below the building and another police car circled the area repeatedly. It was understood plainclothes officers were also deployed at the ground-floor lobby of the building.
Reuters reported that a spokesman from the Hong Kong police said on Thursday morning that the police department of the city had been aware of the report and was declining to comment further.
South Korea's foreign ministry declined comment as well, Reuters reported. A ministry official said the South Korean government's position was not to make any comments related, keeping in mind their safety and diplomatic relations with relevant countries.
According to Reuters, officials from the DPRK and South Korean consulates in Hong Kong were not immediately available for comment and the Hong Kong office of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Hong Kong government could not be reached for comment.
A DPRK flag. Photo: Reuters
The Post also cited another source, which said there were not many people from DPRK visiting the city each year and they needed visas to enter Hong Kong.
We believe it’s not easy for DPRK citizens to leave their country and travel abroad, the source said.
In April, Pyongyang media claimed 13 people from DPRK who worked at a restaurant in China were tricked into defecting by South Korean spies. The 13 – a male manager and 12 female employees of a Pyongyang-run restaurant – arrived in Seoul, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said, according to the Post.
(APD)
