By Yi Whan-woo

A former North Korean defector who starred on South Korean television shows appeared in a North Korean propaganda video, Sunday, fueling speculation she was kidnapped by the repressive state.

The video, titled "The truth revealed by Jeon Hye-sung who was used for anti-DPRK propaganda," shows the woman depicting a "painful" life in the South after defecting from the North in January 2014 and returning home this June.

Jeon claimed she was forced to criticize the Kim Jong-un regime against her will on South Korean cable TV.

The video was released by the Pyongyang-run Uriminzokkiri propaganda website.

"I viciously slandered and spoke ill of the DPRK as I was told to," Jeon said.

She went by the name Im Ji-hyun here but claimed that was an alias.

"I went to the South, led by fantasy that I could eat well and make a lot of money. But in the country where everything is judged by money, I was haunted by physical and psychological pain although I worked my butt off at bars and other places," she said. "Now I'm in the motherland, staying with my parents in Anju, South Pyongan Province."

Jeon appeared as a guest on "Moranbong Club," a kitsch talk show produced by cable network TV Chosun, from December 2016 to April this year.

She also starred in a reality show, "South Korean Men and North Korean Women," produced by TV Chosun as well.

Intelligence authorities said they are investigating how she re-entered North Korea.

Some North Korean defectors speculated she was abducted by North Korean agents on the China-North Korean border while attempting to help her family members flee their country.

The Uriminzokkiri video features another former North Korean defector, Kim Man-bok, who returned to the North two years ago.

He joined Jeon in criticizing the South, saying "The anti-DPRK TV programs are filled with lies from beginning to end."