A Dutch woman who disappeared in Ireland nearly 48 years ago may have been kidnapped by North Korea as part of a secret kidnapping programme run by the isolated regime in the 1970s and 1980s, according to a news report.
Aleida Maria Anderske Kaspersma, known as Leidy, vanished in July 1978 while living near the Irish town of Kenmare with her British boyfriend Nick. She was 26 at the time and her case remains unsolved.
Leidy’s name had surfaced years ago in connection with North Korea’s kidnapping network which targeted people from several countries. American lawyer Susan Komori, who works with the Japanese Rescue Movement, said information about Leidy linked to North Korea dates back to the early 1980s, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported.
“I cannot think of a single other reason why we would know Leidy’s name. Except in relation to North Korea,” Komori told the publication.
The kidnapped foreigners were supposed to return to their country as spies for the Kim dynasty, but the focus was quickly shifted to training North Korean spies so that their behaviour would not attract attention abroad, he added.
The theory gained attention after Leidy’s aunt Nell contacted De Telegraaf following an earlier article on North Korea’s kidnapping operations. Around the same time as Leidy’s disappearance, four Lebanese women were reportedly lured to North Korea with fake job offers.
Some of those women later returned and claimed they had been held with two Dutch women inside the country. One of them may have been Leidy, according to the report.
Remco Breuker, a professor of Korean Studies at Leiden University, told the newspaper there is now “sufficient evidence” that North Korea operated programmes in which foreigners were abducted or tricked into entering the country.
Leidy was last seen on July 2, 1978. According to her boyfriend Nick, she suddenly asked him to stop the car near a small bridge over the Sheen River and walked away after kissing him goodbye.
“In the mirror, I saw her walk away in the opposite direction. It was the last thing I saw of her,” he said.
But no one could confirm Nick’s account. Although he later said he was concerned about Leidy, he travelled to Dublin the following day for temporary work and only returned more than three weeks later to report her missing to Irish police.
Back in the Netherlands, Leidy’s family had already started worrying after they suddenly stopped receiving letters from her, something they said had never happened before.
As per report, police circulated photos showing Leidy with long hair even though she had recently cut it short. Updated photos were later reportedly found by a journalist inside a salt and pepper shaker while her passport had been left with her belongings.
The report also claimed foreign women held in North Korea were allegedly trained in espionage methods, combat techniques and ideological indoctrination.
