By Chyung Eun-ju, Park Si-soo
The South Korean government is trying to locate two North Korean defectors who recently vanished in China, the Ministry of Unification said on Monday.
The ministry believes the married couple, surnamed Song and Son, are in North Korea, but it is uncertain if they were kidnapped or if they returned voluntarily.
The couple lost contact mid-October, shortly after they arrived in Jilin, a border town facing North Korea. They defected to South Korea in 2014, said the ministry.
A South Korean broadcaster reported on Monday that they had voluntarily returned to the North after finding life difficult in the South. The ministry said nothing had been confirmed yet.
"An investigation is under way," Baik Tae-hyun, a unification ministry spokesperson, told a press briefing on Monday.
According to TV Chosun, the couple did not have regular jobs here and missed their child left behind in the North. They also owed 120 million won, according to the network.
In July, a North Korean female defector said in a North Korean propaganda video that she returned to North Korea after she suffered "physically and mentally" in South Korea.