South Korean lawmakers called for the government to take action on Tuesday to prevent the forced repatriation of a North Korean defector’s mother, who has been detained in China for over a year.

The appeal came after the defector Kim Geum-sung, 21, reportedly sent a letter to Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on Monday requesting information about his mother’s well-being, and as human rights groups have sought to draw attention to her case.

According to the text of the letterpublished by local media, Kim defected with his mother in 2019, but she remained in China with her Chinese husband when