hankyoreh

Two Chinese nationals reportedly killed after being abducted by the Islamic State (from Weibo)

The South Korean founder of a language school in Quetta, southern Pakistan, where two Chinese nationals in their 20s were abducted and slain by the Sunni fundamentalist militant group Islamic State (IS) has reportedly been arrested, along with family members, by Pakistani authorities for investigation.

The Pakistani daily DAWN reported on June 18 that the South Korean founder had lived in Quetta since 2011, and that police arrested him and family members on June 12 after concluding that the business ARK Infotech and language school he founded locally on a business visa were in fact being used to conceal Christian missionary activities.

Pakistan authorities reported that the South Korean language school director had taught Urdu and a local language to 13 Chinese nationals - including victims Li Zingyang, 24, and Meng Lisi, 26 - after bringing them to Pakistan between Nov. 2016 and Jan. 2017.

“The Korean family was training the Chinese nationals in missionary work” said Quetta police official Abdul Razzaque Cheema.

“We have interviewed around 50 people who were in contact with the Chinese and received text messages or calls from them. All of them have corroborated that the Chinese were involved in preaching,” he added.

Cheema also claimed the South Korean director had paid the Chinese nationals 30,000 to 35,000 Pakistani rupees (US$286-334) a month for living expenses.

“Law enforcement agencies are investigating where this money came from, because Juan [Won Seo, the South Korean national] had no known source of income and his firm was just an excuse for him to live in Pakistan,” Cheema said.

Typically, Pakistani authorities opt to deport foreign nationals found engaging in evangelism in defiance of visa regulations, but sometimes pursue separate judicial procedures when other charges such as foreign currency smuggling are found, sources said.

Li and Meng were abducted by armed assailants on May 24 while eating at a restaurant in Quetta. On June 8, IS reported through its propaganda agency Amaq that it had kidnapped and killed them. Local police said they had offered security to the Chinese nationals before the abduction, but were turned down.

The Chinese government recently raised the possibility that Li and Meng were “used by a South Korean religious group.”

“We have noted these reports saying that the two kidnapped Chinese nationals who might have been killed and the other ten-plus Chinese nationals may be used by some ROK religious group to do illegal preaching activities,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said during a regular briefing on June 15.

Chinese news outlets had previously cited local sources as saying the Chinese nationals had been involved in missionary activities, but Lu’s remarks were the first direct mention by Chinese authorities.

By Park Min-hee, staff reporter and Kim Oi-hyun, Beijing correspondent

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]