Daughter of North Korea's ambassador to Italy has been 'kidnapped by Kim Jong-Un's agents' and taken back to Pyongyang after her parents disappeared in alleged defection
- Ambassador Jo Song Gil and wife disappeared from Rome embassy
- Their 17-year-old daughter believed to be 'kidnapped' and taken to North Korea
- Leader Kim Jong Un is meeting President Donald Trump next week
- Korean officials claim she requested to join her grandparents in her home country
The daughter North Korea's ambassador to Italy was 'forcibly returned' home after her father 'defected', according to another defector.
Sources inside the South Korean spy agency claim the 17-year-old daughter of diplomat Jo Song Gil was 'kidnapped' and returned to Pyongyang in December.
Mr Jo and his wife disappeared in November while serving as acting ambassador to Italy, and are believed to be 'in hiding'.
North Korea's acting ambassador to Italy Jo Song Gil (third from left) has disappeared and believed to have 'defected' with his wife. The diplomat's tenure at the embassy was believed to be coming to an end in November when he vanished
The potential high profile defection comes days before North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un is due to meet Donald Trump for a second bilateral meeting in Vietnam.
Thae Young Ho, a former North Korean diplomat in London who took refuge in Seoul in 2016, told reporters Tuesday that the girl had been forcibly sent back to North Korea before she could join her parents.
Share this article
Thae said the information came from an unidentified friend in North Korean capital Pyongyang.
The whereabouts of the girl's parents are unknown and Italy has only said that Mr Jo had not requested asylum.
Mr Jo and his wife have not been seen at the North Korean embassy building in the south of Rome since late last year
South Korean spies claim Mr Jo and his wife are living under the protection of the Italian government
Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi said 'we're carrying out the necessary checks' and that his ministry is 'following the affair'.
Describing the case as 'delicate,' he indicated that Italy's relevant 'services' - the term often used to refer to Italy's intelligence services - were also following the case.
The foreign ministry later issued a statement saying that the North Korean embassy had informed it on December 5 that the daughter had requested to join her grandparents in North Korea, and that she had returned accompanied by embassy staff on Nov. 14.
The couple's 17-year-old daughter was reportedly 'kidnapped' by agents working for Kim Jong-Un and returned to Pyongyang
Italian foreign affairs undersecretary Manlio Di Stefano said that if it turns out that Jo's daughter 'was kidnapped by North Korean intelligence (agents) in Italy, it would be a case of unprecedented gravity'.
Italian politicians were demanding to know the fate of the 17-year-old girl yesterday.
A top Italian police official, several police officers and an immigration official have been ordered to stand trial for their roles in that case.
South Korea's spy agency told South Korean politicians that Mr Jo went into hiding with his wife in November 2018, as his posting to Italy was nearing its end, and local media reported Mr Jo was under Italian government protection.
Mr Jo's disappearance raised the possibility of the defection of a senior North Korean official.
The news of the defection comes just days before North Korean dictator is due to meet US President Donald Trump.
The second round of talks, following on from a successful 2018 summit, are expected to prove crucial in persuading Trump to reduce economic sanctions on the isolated state.
Trump announced in a tweet that he was 'looking forward' to the second meeting with Chairman Kim which will be in Hanoi, Vietnam, on February 27-28.
The US President praised Kim as a very 'capable leader' and that the meeting would prioritise economic growth for the and 'advancing the cause of peace'.
At their meeting in Singapore last year, the US and North Korean leaders agreed on a vaguely worded document which pledged North Korea to work towards 'the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula'.
Trump added, 'I look forward to seeing Chairman Kim & advancing the cause of peace!'
'North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, will become a great Economic Powerhouse,' Trump added
It will be the pair's second summit, the first coming in June 2018 in Singapore (pictured) where denuclearisation of the Korean dominated the agenda
Why did Trump and Kim choose Vietnam for their next summit?
Communist-run but with capitalist leanings, and a friend to both the United States and North Korea, Vietnam will host the next summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jung Un from February 27-28.
Like North Korea, Vietnam was once locked in a bloody and bitter war with the US.
But unlike Pyongyang, Hanoi now counts Washington among its closest allies, emerging from the ravages of war to become one of the fastest growing economies in Asia -- and one of the most diplomatically savvy.
Here are a few reasons why it was chosen to host the second Trump-Kim summit:
- Does it make logistical sense?
Vietnam ticks a lot of boxes. It is a short enough flight from Pyongyang for Kim, who otherwise travels by armoured train.
It is also home to both US and North Korean embassies to help with pre-summit arrangements.
Hanoi enjoys friendly ties with both countries and is considered 'neutral' territory, unlike, say, the US state of Hawaii, which was also rumoured as an option.
Security in the communist country is tight even during normal times. Authorities will carefully control media access and crowds for an event where the choreography between the leaders will be closely watched across the world.
Previous visit: Trump was in Danang in November 2017 for the APEC Summit of Pacific Rim nations
- Why is Kim on board with Vietnam?
Vietnam is one of a handful of countries with which North Korea has good relations.
Diplomatic ties between Hanoi and Pyongyang date back to 1950, and North Korea sent air force personnel to the communist North during the Vietnam War.
The last top North Korean leader to visit Vietnam was Kim Jong Un's grandfather Kim Il Sung in 1958, though several senior officials have visited since then.
While trade has dipped in the wake of UN sanctions against Pyongyang, it reached $7 million (6.1 million euros) in 2017.
Kim's trip to Vietnam -- it will be his first -- could also be a chance for him to learn from Vietnam's post-war economic transformation.
'(Kim) would be interested in seeing the Vietnam story for himself, that can be a good source of inspiration and reflection for him to think about the way he should take North Korea forward,' Le Hong Hiep, a Vietnam expert at Singapore's ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, told AFP.
- What about Washington?
Vietnam might also be a strategically important location for the US, which is currently locked in a trade war with China -- one of North Korea's closest allies.
Trump could use Vietnam to 'signal to Beijing that North Korea is not in your hands, we have a counterbalance to Chinese influence in this area', said Cheon Seong Whun, a visiting research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.
Washington is also keen to show off Vietnam's economic success story, touted by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a visit to the country last year.
'Your country can replicate this path. It's yours if you'll seize the moment,' Pompeo said in remarks aimed at Kim.
'It can be your miracle in North Korea as well.'
- Why is Vietnam keen to host?
Vietnam is eager to showcase its diplomatic gravitas on a global stage, following on from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in 2017 and a regional World Economic Forum meeting last year.
The Trump-Kim meet could pay off in more ways than one.
Hosting the box-office summit could boost 'Vietnam's status in the international community, which helps the country attract tourism and foreign investment', said Vu Minh Khuong, a policy analyst at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore.
