The walls of Choi Sung-yong's office are covered with the yellowed head shots of missing South Korean men. Most haven't been seen since the 1960s or 1970s, when they were snatched by North Korean agents and detained with no explanation. One of the missing men is Choi's father.
South Korea's government has had little success in bringing them home. So, after years of mounting frustration, Choi has gone rogue.
He has become South Korea's most high-profile advocate for the disappeared, a brash campaigner using shadowy brokers, bribes and lies to spirit the men out of one of the world's most repressive countries. Since 2000, nine abductees have escaped the North, and Choi says eight of those ? including a fisherman who returned last month ? wouldn't have made it out without his help.
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