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North Korea holding American
Source: Agencies |
December 30, 2009, Wednesday
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NORTH Korea said yesterday that it has custody of an American who entered the country illegally last week - the first word from Pyongyang about an Arizona man activists say wanted to bring international attention to the country's human rights situation.
The 28-year-old American was being investigated after "illegally entering" the country on Christmas Eve through the North Korea-China border, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said in a two-line dispatch.
The report did not identify the American, but activists believe he is Christian missionary Robert Park, who they say slipped across the frozen Tumen River into North Korea from China, bearing letters urging leader Kim Jong Il to resign and free all political prisoners.
"I am an American citizen. I brought God's love. God loves you and God bless you," Park said in fluent Korean as he crossed the border, according to Jo Sung-rae of the Seoul-based group Pax Koreana.
South Korea's Unification Ministry said it cannot confirm the person cited in the KCNA dispatch is Park but noted that it had no intelligence indicating that other Americans went into North Korea illegally in recent days.
Park's uncle called North Korea's confirmation good news. Manchul Cho said he was worried North Korea would execute his nephew. "My fear was that they say they don't know anything about it and may get rid of him secretly," he said from California. "Once they recognize it, that's really good."
The detainment comes just months after North Korea freed two United States journalists arrested in March and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for trespassing and engaging in "hostile acts." The women were released in August to former US President Bill Clinton, who journeyed to Pyongyang to negotiate their freedom.
The 28-year-old American was being investigated after "illegally entering" the country on Christmas Eve through the North Korea-China border, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said in a two-line dispatch.
The report did not identify the American, but activists believe he is Christian missionary Robert Park, who they say slipped across the frozen Tumen River into North Korea from China, bearing letters urging leader Kim Jong Il to resign and free all political prisoners.
"I am an American citizen. I brought God's love. God loves you and God bless you," Park said in fluent Korean as he crossed the border, according to Jo Sung-rae of the Seoul-based group Pax Koreana.
South Korea's Unification Ministry said it cannot confirm the person cited in the KCNA dispatch is Park but noted that it had no intelligence indicating that other Americans went into North Korea illegally in recent days.
Park's uncle called North Korea's confirmation good news. Manchul Cho said he was worried North Korea would execute his nephew. "My fear was that they say they don't know anything about it and may get rid of him secretly," he said from California. "Once they recognize it, that's really good."
The detainment comes just months after North Korea freed two United States journalists arrested in March and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for trespassing and engaging in "hostile acts." The women were released in August to former US President Bill Clinton, who journeyed to Pyongyang to negotiate their freedom.
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