11 Facts About Anocha Panjoy

Anocha Panjoy is a Thai national who was abducted by North Korean agents from Macau on 21 May 1978.

Anocha Panjoy's father, Som Panjoy, was a Korean War veteran.

Anocha Panjoy's mother died while she was a child, and her father died three months before the family became aware of what had happened to her.

Shortly after her arrival in Pyongyang, Anocha Panjoy was forced to marry US defector Larry Allen Abshier.

Anocha Panjoy continued to live close to the Jenkins family until 1989, when she married an East German businessman who worked for the government.

Jenkins stated that when he met Anocha Panjoy, she wished to return to Thailand and reunite with her family.

Anocha Panjoy's family had no information about her condition until 2005, when her older brother recognised her in a photograph being held by Jenkins during a television interview.

In 2005, Anocha Panjoy's brother met Teruaki Masumoto, the secretary general of the National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea.

In 2006, the city of Chiang Mai, near Anocha Panjoy's hometown staged a photo exhibition to draw attention to her story.

Suknam Anocha Panjoy wrote an open letter to his sister, supported by NARKN, and ReACH.

North Korea denies that Anocha Panjoy was abducted by its agents or that she was ever in the country.