An officer of one of North Korea's elite military units on cyber warfare has disappeared in the far east of Russia after Moscow agents thwarted his escape attempt.

This was reported by sources and documents received by the Korean service of the Voice of America.

Major

, the North Korean People's Army's chief information technology specialist, has been at the North Korean consulate general in Vladivostok since September after being arrested by Russian police in the town of Razdolnoye, about an hour's drive away.

The 33-year-old Chol was hiding in Razdolny to get out of control of the North Korean authorities, who have been hunting for him since July, when he left his post in Vladivostok.

The officer decided to seek asylum in the Moscow office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

The Korean Voice of America has been in contact with people who knew Chola for several months.

Sources provided a copy of Chola's passport, screenshots of text messages he exchanged with some of them, and other documents.

Despite United Nations bans on hiring North Koreans, many continue to work in and around Vladivostok, sending home their ruble salaries to a regime that desperately needs hard currency.

According to the Japanese newspaper Kyodo News, a group of North Korean IT experts moved from Hong Kong to Vladivostok to evade UN Security Council Resolution 2397, adopted in December 2017, which prohibits countries from issuing work permits to North Korean workers and requires them to leave work. until December 2019.

In Russia, they work despite the resolution.

The Korean Voice of America contacted the regional offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Moscow and Europe, as well as the Russian Foreign Ministry, and asked if they were aware of Chola's attempts to seek asylum.

Only the Moscow office of the Office replied that they did not comment on individual cases.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said in 2013 that cyberwarfare, along with nuclear weapons and missiles, was a "universal sword" that guaranteed military capabilities.

The regime is recruiting young students to teach them hacking, according to the South Korean public publication KBS.

According to Chola's testimonies obtained by journalists, he was one of those selected for such training.

He was educated in Pyongyang by attending the prestigious Kimson High School, and Kim Jong Un University of Technology for undergraduate and graduate students.

North Korea combines secondary and higher education in a six-year program.