Michael Spavor, founder of a non-profit organizing cultural-exchange trips to North Korea, was recently questioned by Chinese authorities
Source: Second Canadian goes missing in China
OTTAWA – Global Affairs Canada says the founder of a non-profit that organizes cultural-exchange trips to North Korea is the second Canadian to go missing in China in recent days.
A spokesman for the federal agency says Michael Spavor “is presently missing in China,” after he was questioned by Chinese authorities.
The news comes just days after state security in China rounded up Michael Kovrig, a former Canadian diplomat who’s on leave from his job.
That move escalated a tense diplomatic dispute between the two countries stemming from the arrest in Vancouver of a top executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei.
The website for Paektu Cultural Exchange — the organization Spavor founded — says he’s originally from Calgary.
It says he organized Dennis Rodman’s visits to North Korea in 2013 and 2014, when he became friends with the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un.
