21-05-11 Four officers reportedly abducted in 1999 by North

A former reporter with expertise on North Korea has given testimony that he heard that four South Korean officers were abducted by the North in 1999 while on secret missions.The Ministry of National Defense hasnt verified the testimony,which came out during a court hearing appeal in a spy trial.The Seoul High Court said yesterday that the reporter,identified only as Jeong,was called as a witness on Thursday for a former South Korean agent,who was convicted last year on charges of giving military information to the North.When the agents attorney asked Jeong if he knew the fact that one commander and three colonels were abducted by the North,Jeong answered that he did.Jeong said the newspaper he worked for at the time decided not to publish the article for national security reasons.The defendant surnamed Park spied on the North for South Korea under the code name Black Venus.The spy was indicted in July 2010 on charges of leaking top military secrets to North Korean agents from September 2003 to August 2005,including information on Oplan 5027,the plan of the U.S.-South Korea Combined Forces Command to defend the South in the event of a second Korean War.Park was sentenced last December to seven years in prison.Park appealed the conviction and the trial is now underway.On Thursday,Parks lawyer said North Korea had already obtained the information on Oplan before he allegedly gave it to the North in 2005.Park says North Korea announced in 2004 that it knew about the plan.As for the abductions,Jeong said in a phone interview that,The newspaper I worked for at the time made a conclusion that the event shouldnt be publicized to protect national security.Jeong also said he couldnt reveal how he obtained the information on the abduction.A defense expert said of the information,In 1999,when the four officers were allegedly abducted,the relationship between two Koreas was getting worse due to the Yeonpyeong sea battle near the Northern Limit Line.The then-South Korean government could have felt concerns about receiving strong public criticism if the abduction of four officers had been publicized.