A North Korean student and the daughter of the country's former envoy to Rome, Jo Song-gil, was taken back to Pyongyang from Italy by force in November, according to a report by South Korean news agency Yonhap on Wednesday. The girl's father, Jo Song-gil, went missing in November in an act that was seen as an attempted defection. Yonhap said the source for its report was Thae Yong-ho, the former number two at North Korea's London embassy who took refuge in Seoul in 2016. The operation to forcibly take the daughter back to North Korea took place before she made an attempt to be reunited with her parents, according to the Yonhap report.
"I don't know how many children Jo had, but the one who was in Italy was taken back to North Korea," Thae was quoted as saying.
"Jo is currently with his wife".
ANSA sources said that the daughter is a 17-year-old high-school student. Jo started a diplomatic mission in Italy in 2015 and took over the functions of the ambassador after Ambassador Mun Jong-nam was expelled in October 2017 following North Korean nuclear tests.
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