Kim Jong Nam murder rekindles interest on incident that happened 39 years ago

On Aug 20,1978, four young Malaysian and a Singaporean women disappeared mysteriously after they were asked by a "Japanese" man to join a party on a boat off the republic's coast.

The four Malaysian women who disappeared without a trace until now are Yeng Yoke Fun, 22, Yap Me Leng, 22, Seetoh Tai Thim, 19, Margaret Ong Guat Choo, 19 while the Singaporean was Diana Ng Kum Yim, 24.

Although both incidents occurred nearly four decades apart, they shared one uncanny similarity, that of deep suspicion that North Korean agents were behind the crime allegedly on orders from their supreme leader.

"We should investigate the case again (the 1978 dissapearance incident), we are willing to assist relatives of the four Malaysian women in finding more information," said the Association for the Rescue of North Korea Abductees (ARNKA) director Tomoharu Ebihara to Bernama recently.

Despite the scant information available on the four Malaysian women and a gap of 39 years since the day of the incident, he remains optimistic that someday he and his colleagues will unravel the mystery.

According to Ebihara, information on the possible existence of Malaysian abductees in North Korea was derived from testimonies of South Korean actress, Choi Eun-hee and former United States' soldier, Charles Robert Jenkins.

Eun-hee was abducted in Hong Kong in 1978 while Jenkins deserted his unit and crossed into North Korea in 1965 and lived in the Communist country until 2004 before travelling to Japan to link up with a woman.

"According to Jenkins, he saw a picture of Yoke Fun (one of the women who disappeared in Singapore) and remember meeting a similar woman at an amusement park in Pyongyang between 1980 and 1981," said Ebihara.

Eun-hee who had lived in Pyongyang until 1986 told she heard from a woman that a Malaysian couple lived in a separate residence in Pyongyang during her stay in North Korea's capital, said the activist.

"That is the only information we have on the possible abductees from Malaysia," he said, adding that information provided by Eun-hee and Jenkins were credible.

According to Ebihara, citizens from 12 countries were alleged to have been kidnapped by North Korean agents including from Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Jordan, Lebanon, Romania and France.

He said non-governmental organisations in Japan believed about 300 Japanese were abducted by North Korean agents, despite the official tally given by the government put it at 18 people.

Hundreds of South Koreans were also allegedly abducted by North Korean agents.

A sole Thai abductee, he said, Anocha Panjoy was abducted in July, 1978 while she was working in Macau, allegedly by the same "Japanese" man who was behind the kidnapping of the four Malaysian and a Singapore women a month later.

The "Japanese" man is believed a North Korean agent.

According to Ebihara, although it was difficult to pinpoint a reason behind the abduction, it was strongly believed that the abductees were used as a language or cultural teacher for future North Korean agents, among others.

"They (women abductees) are also kidnapped to become wives of foreign abducted men," he said, citing Jenkins who was married to Japanese abductee, Hitomi Soga.