Pakistan arrests South Korean man who was suspected of training Christian missionaries

Pakistani authorities have reportedly arrested a South Korean man who was suspected of using his language school to train Chinese nationals to conduct Christian missionary work in the country.

The South Korean national, identified as Juan Won Seo, runs a language school in Quetta, southern Pakistan, where two Chinese nationals were abducted and murdered by the Islamic State terror group.

Juan was arrested along with his family members on June 12 after it was determined that his school was being used for covert Christian missionary activities, Korean news website The Hankyoreh reported.

According to Pakistani authorities, Juan had taught Urdu and a local language to 13 Chinese nationals, including the murder victims, Li Zingyang, 24, and Meng Lisi, 26, after bringing them to Pakistan between November 2016 and January 2017.

"The Korean family was training the Chinese nationals in missionary work," Quetta police official Abdul Razzaque Cheema stated.

"We have interviewed around 50 people who were in contact with the Chinese and received text messages or calls from them. All of them have corroborated that the Chinese were involved in preaching," he added.

Cheema said that the Juan had provided the Chinese nationals with 30,000 to 35,000 Pakistani rupees (US$286-334) a month for their living expenses. He said that law enforcement agencies are investigating where the money came from as Juan had no known source of income because he was only using the school as a cover to live in Pakistan.

Li and Meng were abducted by armed assailants on May 24 while they were eating at a restaurant. On June 8, ISIS announced through its propaganda agency that it abducted and killed the two Chinese nationals.

According to Pakistani news site Dawn, Li and Meng were taken into police custody from Quetta's Kharotabad area prior to the abduction and were informed about the threat to their security. "They were offered security but they refused to accept the offer," Pakistan's interior ministry stated.

Last week, the China's Foreign Ministry vowed to work with Pakistani authorities to investigate whether the two victims were involved in missionary activities.

"We have noted these reports saying that the two kidnapped Chinese nationals who might have been killed and the other ten-plus Chinese nationals may be used by some ROK religious group to do illegal preaching activities," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang during a regular briefing on June 15.