A South Korean prisoner of war who escaped to China after nearly a half- century of captivity in North Korea will return to the South next week.

A government official said Wednesday that the 75-year-old POW, currently under Chinese custody, is scheduled to return to Seoul on Monday.

The former South Korean soldier, identified only by his surname Shin, was reportedly taken prisoner by the North during the Korean War after joining the South Korean Army in 1946.

Shin was arrested by Chinese authorities last month after he escaped to Yenji in China's northeastern Jilin Province to meet his relatives.