An American student reported missing during a 2004 hiking trip in China was kidnapped and forced to teach English to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, authorities say.
David Sneddon, a Brigham Young student, disappeared at the age of 24 in Yunnan Province in what Chinese police said was likely a hiking accident.
But the body of Sneddon — who spoke fluent Korean — was never found and his parents were suspicious.
“We knew in our heart that he was alive, so we had to keep fighting,” said his relieved mother, Kathleen Sneddon.
According to Choi Sung-yong, head of South Korea’s Abductees’ Family Union, Sneddon has been found living in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, where he works as a school teacher. He reportedly is married and has two children.
North Korea has a long history of kidnapping foreign nationals, and Sneddon’s parents believe their son was targeted because he served on a Mormon mission in South Korea, where his language skills became known.
Kim Jong Un, the feared but often mocked chairman of the Worker’s Party of Korea, was about 20 years old when Sneddon became his tutor.
The third and youngest son of Kim Jong Il, Jong Un was declared leader after his father’s death in 2011.
Jong Un’s English and knowledge of American culture — he’s a huge basketball fan — is considered excellent.
It remained unclear why Sneddon never reached out to his parents or American officials.