ISLAMABAD: The Alpine Club of Pakistan reported that a South Korean Paralympian had gone missing after falling from the world's 12th highest mountain, the 8,047-metre (26,400-foot) Broad Peak in northern Pakistan.

Kim Hong-bin, 57, who competed in Alpine skiing at the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City, reached the summit with other climbers on Sunday but encountered bad weather on the way down, according to the club.

Kim fell into a crevasse on the Chinese side of the mountain, which is part of the Karakoram range on Pakistan's border with China.

"The rest of the group looked for him, but couldn't stay up there and had to come down," Alpine Club head Karrar Haidri told Reuters. 

"A search and rescue operation is currently being organized, and helicopters will join the effort as soon as the weather permits."

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said in a tweet that he would hold out hope for Kim's survival and await his safe return.

Broad Peak was the final summit in Kim's quest to climb the world's 14 tallest mountains, known as "Eight-thousanders" because they are all over 8,000 meters in height. In 2007, he climbed Mount Everest.

Moon's message came a day after he congratulated Kim on becoming the first disabled person to climb all 14 peaks.

"Hong-bin is now the first person with a disability to climb all of the world's eight-thousanders," Haidri said.

Kim suffered frostbite to all of his fingers while climbing Mount Denali in Alaska in 1991. He then began Alpine skiing and competed at the national level in para-cycling.

South Korea's foreign ministry has requested assistance from Pakistan and China in locating Kim, according to ministry spokesman Choi Young-sam.

Both parties have agreed, and Pakistan has stated that a helicopter will take off as soon as possible, weather permitting, according to Choi.

Kim also founded an organization that teaches children with disabilities mountain climbing and other outdoor sports.

Three climbers died in February while attempting to summit Pakistan's 8,611-meter K2: Pakistan's Muhammad Ali Sadpara, Iceland's Jon Snorri, and Chile's Juan Pablo Mohr.

Edited - SportsAction / Inputs - Agency