N.K. student defects to S. Korean diplomatic mission in Hong Kong

A North Korean student has taken refuge in South Korea’s consulate in Hong Kong after breaking away from a team taking part in an international math contest, local news reports said Friday.

The 18-year-old male student, whose identity remains unknown, reached the diplomatic mission on July 16, according to local newspaper Ming Pao. 

The eight-member delegation arrived in the city on July 6 and discovered his absence as it was preparing to return to North Korea after the closing ceremony the night before the International Mathematical Olympiad at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Seoul’s Foreign Ministry declined to verify the news reports, citing rules based on concerns over defectors’ personal safety and diplomatic sensitivity.

But a ministry official indirectly confirmed the student’s asylum, saying he will likely be sent to Seoul “after the controversy dies down.”

Police have reportedly tightened security around the consulate in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong since then, including the placement of armed officers.

Despite the student’s disappearance, the remainder of the team went back home on July 19 via Beijing, the South China Morning Post said.

The Olympiad’s website listed Ri Myong-hyok and Jon Kum-song as North Korean gold medal winners and Choe Un-song, Han Yu-song, Kim Il-jin and Ri Jong-yol as silver medalists. The two Ris are believed to be 18 years old.

The team came in sixth among the 109 countries that took part in the competition.

Such defections have often taken place at South Korean missions, especially in Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Laos.

But the latest case is unusual given that the student was part of an official delegation that followed a tightly choreographed schedule and close monitoring.

This week, two workers at a North Korean restaurant in Malta were found to have defected last year, followed by a construction worker early this year. Last April, 13 staff members of a North Korean diner in the Chinese city of Ningbo arrived in Seoul. 

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)