This year the Chinese government’s practice of sending North Korean refugees back to North Korea, where they face imprisonment, torture, and execution,  has finally become a major issue in South Korea. Now Ahn Cheol-soo, the professor and businessman whose possible political aspirations remain enigmatic, has gotten quietly involved.

Original article in Korean is at this link.

On the 4th Professor Ahn Cheol-soo visited a candlelight vigil being held to protest the repatriation of North Korean refugees, causing a lot of discussion on Twitter.

On the 6th of last month, following the foundation of the Ahn Cheol-soo Foundation, Prof. Ahn met with Lee Ae-ran, the first female North Korea refugee to earn a Ph.D, and declined to comment on anything other than the candlelight vigil.

On Twitter there were conflicting opinions, with some supporting Prof. Ahn and others seeing his actions as politically motivated. One user named @sungk*** wrote “Prof. Ahn’s visit to the vigil against repatriating the refugees is excellent. It is good he leads correct positions.”

A user named @kipe*** wrote “it’s good that he didn’t comment on it. It needs to continue. That’s my hope.”

Others saw Prof. Ahn’s visit as a political act. A user named @es4*** wrote “it appears to be just political, since he had no good reason for it” while @ejoo*** wrote “so Ahn Cheol-soo participated in candlelight vigil against China repatriating North Korean refugees.. isn’t he just slimily taking advantage of it politically..”

Prof. Ahn received a letter from Dr. Lee, and then participated in the vigil.