Personally, I believe that David Sneddon still remains in Pyongyang, North Korea and is used as an English tutor under the alias of “Yoon Bong Soo”. This case has always interested me and it’s a shame it’s not received more attention. There is a good podcast episode i’d recommend, the two part series by ‘Unknown Passage podcast’ and also the thin air podcast where they brought along David’s father on air.

Mr. Sneddon, then a 24 year old student at Brigham Young University in Utah disappeared in August 2004, while hiking in the Tiger Leaping Gorge in China’s Yunnan Province. Fluent in Korean and speaking some Chinese, he was sightseeing before heading home to Utah and graduate school after finishing a two-year mission for his church in South Korea.

The local Chinese authorities first informed U.S. officials and the Sneddon family that David had most likely fallen into the river and drowned to death while hiking through the gorge. However, the family’s own investigation soon afterward confirmed that David had finished his trek and been seen in a restaurant beyond the end of the gorge.

His disappearance immediately thereafter was not explained, although a number of factors indicated a North Korean connection. First, North Korean agents were actively operating in the area at the time with the acquiescence of Chinese officials, detaining North Korean defectors and their suspected supporters. Second, Charles R. Jenkins, a U.S. soldier who deserted to North Korea in 1965 and was used by the regime to teach English to North Korean officials and agents, left North Korea one month before David’s disappearance. David’s youth and fluency in English and Korean would have made him particularly appealing as a replacement candidate. Third, Japanese specialists on North Korea affiliated with the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea (NARKN) obtained information from reliable sources in China that in August, 2004, an American student closely matching David’s description was detained by Chinese authorities who were observed to release him into the hands of North Korean agents.

In September last year, the U.S. and U.K. media quoted Mr. Choi to report that Mr. Sneddon turned up alive in North Korea after being kidnapped to serve as Kim Jong Un’s personal English tutor in August 2004 while he was traveling Yunnan province, China. Since then, both the Senate and the House of Representatives of the U.S. passed a resolution urging action to find out what happened to Sneddon. North Korea strongly denied kidnapping him. It is said that the U.S. embassy has been requested Mr. Choi the current state of Mr. Sneddon and further information to decisively confirm‎ his identity up until now. According to North Korean sources, Sneddon has been relocated to Mt. Myohyang and is under special surveillance after foreign press reports, and was spotted at the Chosun Red Cross Hospital and Pongsu Church in Pyongyan before being relocated. According to Choi, sources in North Korea told him that then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il made a special order in 2004 to find a tutor to teach English and American culture to his children. Sources also said that the overseas political dissident division of the State Security Department and staffs deployed to Myanmar kidnapped Sneddon and brought him to Pyongyang in October 2004. Now, Mr. Sneddon goes by the Korean name Yoon Bong Soo and he is married to a woman named Kim Eun Hae and they have two children, a boy and a girl. Mr. Choi argued that such a story was revealed by a person who was involved in the kidnapping of Mr. Sneddon and he confessed Mr. Choi’s North Korean source before he was dead.

They have met with a multitude of NGOs, human rights advocates, Japanese government officials - who are convinced David is a victim of kidnapping by the hermit state.

"Our latest information on David's case points to David's likely abduction by elements of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)," says a post from August last year. "We believe he is now being held captive there."

The Sneddons are bruised by the lack of interest from the US Department of State, which maintains there is not "credible evidence" David was abducted. They presume their story "doesn't fit the narrative" the department wants for US-China relations.

"The 'credible evidence' David was drowned in the gorge was the Chinese said that's what happened," says Roy.

"They've never really investigated a lot of material," adds Kathleen. "They may have been investigating it privately. That's my hope, that they're silently working on it."

Her husband is less patient. "If you're suddenly thrown off a ship and pray a dolphin will come and give you a ride, you're probably best off to start swimming yourself," says Roy.

"We decided we'd try swimming ourselves. There's so much politics, it's difficult."

Kathleen trusts her son is probably safe for now, but her eyes are wide open to the dangers and she sees clear reasons why their son might not have been able to contact them for all these years.

"If [Kim Jong-un] didn't like David anymore, he'd be killed," she says. "The internet is absolutely closed in North Korea. Some people may have access to a phone from China, but he probably doesn't want to jeopardise himself and his wife and children.

"If any one of our children had to be abducted and cope with a difficult situation, it's David. He has great personal belief, on the inside he's very strong.

"I just want to run up to him, hug him and get to know his wife and children."

Despite their desperation to see their son again, the Sneddons have also found room in their hearts to feel deeply for the North Korean people. "It's such an evil and repressive empire," says Kathleen. "I hope David is freed and something happens and these people will be freed."

As they watch the pressure on North Korea increase over its repressive regime and nuclear testing, they wonder if their "adjustable" son could even play a vital role in a transition.

"I'd like to think, in the long run, David could be a blessing to the people of North Korea," says Kathleen. "I hope David can move mountains." She laughs. "We're both dreamers."

Roy interjects: "I don't think we are. I believe Kim Jong-un's regime will fall. It won't happen because the US sends an aircraft carrier, it'll be because people watching in positions of power say, enough is enough."

Articles quoted https://japan-forward.com/u-s-japan-cooperation-expected-on-passage-of-congressional-resolution-on-david-sneddon-disappearance-2/amp/

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/north-koreas-other-otto-the-unbelievable-story-of-missing-hiker-david-sneddon/IJONS7MFM4CRIVESUHBBPH2J5A/