SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean pastor has been released on bail after spending more than five months at a detention center in eastern China for allegedly helping North Korean defectors there, a Seoul official said Tuesday.

   The 51-year-old pastor, Jeon Jae-gwi, was arrested by Chinese authorities on July 9 at an airport in Harbin on charges of sheltering five North Korean defectors and has been held at the detention center in Yantai of northeastern Shandong Province.

   "To my knowledge, Pastor Jeon was released on bail on Dec. 14," the senior foreign ministry official said on the condition of anonymity.

   Chinese prosecutors have yet to press charges against Jeon. If he is indicted, he will face trial without being physically detained, according to the official.

   Tens of thousands of North Korean defectors are believed to be hiding in China, hoping to travel to Thailand or other Southeast Asian countries before resettling in South Korea, home to more than 24,000 North Korean defectors.

   North Korean defectors face harsh punishments and even execution after being repatriated from China, which does not recognize them as asylum-seekers.

   kdh@yna.co.kr
(END)