South Korean officials said Tuesday that a former South Korean prisoner of war arrested by Chinese authorities after fleeing North Korea is under investigation at an undisclosed location in China, after trying to board a Seoul-bound flight with a forged passport.

The officials said it will take several months before the investigation and trial of Jeon Yong-il and his wife are concluded, noting they violated Chinese laws by attempting to enter South Korea with fake passports.

Jeon, who was taken prisoner by the North Korean army in the closing weeks of the 1950-53 Korean War, was arrested by Chinese officials last week with his wife.

Officials said the former POW will not be sent back to the communist North because he was identified as a Korean War prisoner from the South.

They said the couple is being held at an unknown location after being moved from a detention camp in the Chinese town of Tumen, bordering North Korea, which had earlier raised concerns here that they might be deported to the North.

China on Tuesday confirmed Jeon's detention. During a regular briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said it is true that Jeon is under investigation, but promised he would not be harmed.