PARIS, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- A North Korean college student with ties to the Kim Jong Un regime has been reported missing from his school in Paris.
The student, identified only as Han, is the son of a former government aide who worked for Jang Song Thaek. Jang was executed in December 2013 by order of his nephew, the Supreme Leader, on charges of treason during a purge of "anti-Party counterrevolutionary factionalists."
Han's father was recently purged from the regime as part of an ongoing effort to remove associates of Jang.
There is speculation that Han's disappearance may be connected to an attempt by North Korea to forcibly return him to the country.
The Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Architecture de Paris-La Villette has not seen Han in 15 days. "I asked other students and faculty members about Han's whereabouts but nobody has seen him at least for the past 15 days," a school official told Yonhap News Agency.
Yonhap also reported an unidentified source said Han had been escorted from the school by North Korean agents but that he managed to escape and was currently staying at an unspecified location.
