The man, who lived in South Korea before, had visited the Incheon area several times, the statement added.
His name has not been released by South Korean authorities, and official statements have referred to him as “Mr. A.”
The coast guard told NBC News by phone Wednesday that he had been handed to Incheon police authorities the previous day.
Lee Dae-seon, a pro-democracy activist based in South Korea, identified the man as a Chinese dissident called Kwon Pyong.
He told NBC News that Kwon had been trying to leave China ever since the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019.
Front Line Defenders, a nongovernmental organization working to protect human rights activists around the world, has a profile of Kwon on its website, saying he has actively campaigned for detained lawyers and other human rights defenders in China.
Kwon served an 18-month prison term for “inciting subversion of state power” and was released in 2018, the group said. The evidence against him included a photo of him wearing a T-shirt criticizing Chinese President Xi Jinping with the slogan “Xitler,” it added.
Lee said Kwon asked him for his phone number two days before the coast guard said it apprehended him, and told him that he was now ready to come to South Korea, without explaining how he was going to get across.
Lee said that he got a call from Kwon from the Incheon coast guard’s office after his detention, and that he saw the man in custody Tuesday.
Lee said he has been in touch with lawyers specializing in seeking refugee status in South Korea, which can be difficult, but said Kwon is also open to going to a third country as he speaks English.
He said Kwon’s parents also traveled to South Korea in light of the incident.
“[They] told me that they found out from the Chinese authorities that Kwon was banned from leaving China for the next 99 years,” Lee added. “[He] had no choice but to flee China for his safety.”
China has increasingly employed exit bans to bar people — including domestic critics and foreign executives — from leaving the country.
Lee said Kwon attended Iowa State University and has a degree in aerodynamics. He said Kwon bought the jet ski shortly before the departure from Shandong.
NBC News reached out to the Chinese Embassy in Seoul for comment, but the incident was not mentioned during the Chinese Foreign Ministry briefing Wednesday.
Stella Kim reported from Seoul, and Yuliya Talmazan from London.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
