Kwon Pyong, a Chinese critic of his nation’s ruling Communist Party, already had a fame for boldness.

Seven years in the past he posted a photograph of himself on Twitter in a T-shirt that referred to Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian chief, as “Xitler.” This, and a spate of equally provocative antigovernment feedback from Mr. Kwon, who lived within the northeastern Chinese metropolis of Yanbian, led to a charge of inciting subversion and a stint in jail.

Last week, Mr. Kwon, 35, made one other daring transfer, based on one South Korean human rights activist: He fled China on a private watercraft, crossing about 200 miles of ocean to succeed in South Korea, the place he had lengthy hoped to hunt asylum.

“He was aware of the risk he was taking,” the activist, Lee Dae-seon, who has recognized Mr. Kwon for years, mentioned on Wednesday. He mentioned Mr. Kwon had advised him he was coming, and that that they had stayed involved for the reason that South Korean authorities took him into custody.

The South Korean Coast Guard has confirmed that on Aug. 16 it discovered a person stranded with a Jet Ski-type car on a mud flat off the nation’s west coast, close to the town of Incheon. In a press release, it mentioned the person, whom it didn’t determine, had been detained Sunday on suspicion of getting into South Korea illegally by sea from China.

He had set off from the Shandong Peninsula with a helmet, a life jacket, a telescope and a compass, based on the Coast Guard. He additionally had 5 containers of gasoline, which he’d tied to the watercraft and used to maintain the tank stuffed throughout the 14-hour journey, the Coast Guard mentioned.

Matt Ran, an engineer from China who lives in New York City and has recognized Mr. Kwon since 2016, mentioned these particulars matched plans for escaping China that his buddy had shared with him years in the past, earlier than the beginning of the Covid pandemic.

“He felt depressed living in China due to the autocracy and lack of freedom of speech,” mentioned Mr. Ran, 36, who met Mr. Kwon on a web-based discussion board about Chinese historical past. He mentioned that they had but to satisfy in particular person, however he known as Mr. Kwon a detailed buddy with a “sunny” character who had taught him to make the “best cold noodles.”

Mr. Kwon, who’s of Korean descent, graduated from Iowa State University in 2014 with a level in aerospace engineering. His Chinese identify is Quan Ping, however he most popular to make use of his Korean identify on-line. Mr. Ran mentioned he “wanted to be a great entrepreneur” and “cared much about China’s democratization.”

Mr. Kwon disappeared into Chinese police custody in September 2016, quickly after posting the picture of himself within the shirt that likened Mr. Xi to Hitler. “Let’s work together and topple this invisible wall,” Mr. Kwon wrote in that publish. In his Twitter profile, he described himself as a “perpetual student, citizen, dedicated to overturning communism.”

He went on trial for inciting subversion in February 2017 and was sentenced to 18 months in jail, based on Mr. Lee, the Korean activist. The cost was based mostly on 70 or extra feedback, photographs and video that Mr. Kwon had shared on social media, his Chinese legal professionals mentioned on the time of his trial.

Mr. Kwon was launched from jail in March 2018, however the authorities continued to observe him and barred him from leaving China, Mr. Lee mentioned. He mentioned Mr. Kwon had contacted him in 2019 by connections to different human rights activists, expressing curiosity in in search of asylum in South Korea.

This month, Mr. Lee mentioned, he obtained a message from Mr. Kwon after years of silence, saying that he was coming to South Korea.

A South Korean legal professionals’ group, Advocates for Public Interest Law, mentioned that Mr. Kwon had utilized for asylum and that it had been requested to symbolize him in that course of. Kim Joo-gwang, a lawyer assigned to Mr. Kwon’s case, declined to remark, saying that he was nonetheless reviewing the matter. Efforts to succeed in Mr. Kwon immediately weren’t profitable.

Mr. Kwon’s bid for asylum is much from assured. In latest years, South Korea has granted asylum to fewer than 200 of the greater than 10,000 individuals who have utilized for it annually, based on information from the Justice Ministry.