Jon Dunbar is a copy editor at The Korea Times, as well as editor of the Foreign Community page and curator of the Korea Times Archive. If you have suggestions for possible articles, or wish to contribute articles yourself, contact jdunbar@koreatimes.co.kr.
Former Seoul expat spends 1 year in Chinese custody
Michael Spavor, now a prisoner in China, enjoys lunch in Pyongyang in 2010. / Courtesy of Jon Dunbar
By Jon Dunbar
By Jon Dunbar
It was a year ago yesterday that Michael Spavor left his home in Dandong, China, to catch a flight bound for South Korea. He never made it. Chinese security agents detained him on suspicion of endangering national security, 10 days after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at an airport in Vancouver. Spavor, as well as Canadian ex-diplomat Michael Kovrig, has now spent a year in Chinese custody.
His family and close friends released a message recently at
to address Spavor's situation.
“Our friend, brother and son, Michael Spavor, has spent a year in Chinese jail. He will soon spend his second Christmas behind bars, without his family, and without access to lawyers,” the statement said.
“Michael is an earnest, genuine, and impossibly fun person who we believe has been detained in error. He deserves better, as does fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig. We call on all sides to work towards a quick and positive resolution that results in their release.”
Spavor has a love for all things Korea, from both Koreas, and he maintains a relationship with both of the countries. He moved to South Korea in the late 1990s, and in his time here he studied at Kangwon University in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, worked for Seoul Tourism Organization and lived in a historic hanok house in Bukahyeon-dong in western Seoul, among many other experiences.
He visited North Korea for the first time in 2001, and spent six months working as a teacher in Pyongyang in 2005. He accompanied Dennis Rodman to North Korea in September 2013, during which time he met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He left South Korea and moved to China to be closer to North Korea. He founded the Paektu Cultural Exchange and returned to the North many times, organizing tour groups, cultural delegations and sports exchanges.
Despite North Korea's reputation for mistreating visitors, especially after the death of American tourist Otto Warmbier and detention earlier this year of Australian graduate student Alek Sigley ― a colleague of Spavor's ― it was China that put him in trouble.
Not much is known about the conditions of his detention. The Canadian embassy in China has been working quietly to communicate with all relevant parties. Diplomatic personnel also have contact with Spavor in the facility where he is detained. Reportedly they deliver books for him to read, as it is the only form of diversion available to him in detention.
Spavor still has many friends in South Korea, and in his final Facebook post in which he announced his visit here he tagged over 50 friends he looked forward to seeing.
His family and friends have been running a GoFundMe campaign, currently at $14,382, and they hope for more donations. The money is to cover any legal or transportation fees that may arise, and help him recover and get back to normal life. It is expected after his release he will no longer live in China, which will cut him off from North Korea.
“Knowing that he has support from outside is lifting Michael's spirits, despite very challenging circumstances,” they said.
Visit
for more information or
to donate.