ROK Government Issues Public Warning About Possible North Korean Kidnapping Plan

This is actually a legitimate concern that the ROK government should have considering North Korea’s long history of kidnapping foreign nationals:

South Korea warned on Monday there is a risk of its citizens being abducted by Pyongyang in retaliation for the defection of a dozen North Korean staff at a restaurant in China.

Twelve women working at the restaurant in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo defected to the South with their manager last month.

Seoul said they came voluntarily while the North insists they were tricked into defecting by South Korean spies who effectively “kidnapped” them.

The South’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korea affairs, said overseas missions had been advised to heighten their vigilance.

“We are closely watching out for multiple possibilities, including abduction or terrorism … by the North,” said ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-Hee.

“We are trying to ensure the safety of our nationals,” he told reporters.

Seoul’s Hankook Ilbo daily reported Monday that Pyongyang was plotting to abduct South Koreans to trade for the 13 defectors.

“They set the target of 120 people including expats, soldiers and officials,” the newspaper said, citing an official source familiar with North Korean affairs.  [AFP]

You can read more at the link, but if they were going to attempt to kidnap Koreans the easiest place to do it would be in China.  Another country to be careful in would be in Japan considering how North Korea’s has kidnapped so many people before from that country as well.