US Student Declared Dead In 2004 Found Alive In North Korea After Being Kidnapped As Kim Jong-un's Tutor

A US student presumed dead for 12 years has reportedly been spotted alive in North Korea after being 'kidnapped' to be Kim Jong-un's personal tutor.

David Sneddon, who attended Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, vanished in China's Yunnan Province on August 14, 2004.

At the time, Chinese police said the 24-year-old, who was on a student exchange programme, likely died in a hiking accident.

But now, it is claimed that he is alive in Pyongyang - after being 'abducted' to work as an English tutor to Kim more than a decade ago.

David is reportedly living in the North Korean capital with a wife and two children.

Choi Sung-yong, the head of South Korea’s Abductees’ Family Union, said new information shows the young man did not die in 2004.

Choi said he was, instead, kidnapped to serve as a personal English tutor to Kim, whose father was then leader of North Korea, Yahoo News Japan reports.

The article has even prompted the U.S. Department of State to formally launch a search for David in North Korea, Deseret News reports.