North Korea releases US detainee
Source: Agencies |
May 29, 2011, Sunday
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North Korea freed an American held for half a year for reportedly proselytizing, handing him yesterday to a US envoy who said Washington had not promised to provide aid in exchange for the man's release.
The envoy, Robert King, accompanied Eddie Jun on a flight from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, and told reporters after arriving in Beijing that Jun would return to the United States to be reunited with his family "within a day or two."
Jun did not appear with King before reporters in Beijing. Jun appeared in good spirits, smiling with King as they boarded the plane in Pyongyang, according to footage from Associated Press Television News.
Jun, a Korean-American from California who traveled to North Korea several times and had business interests there, was arrested in November, with the North's official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, saying he was accused of committing a serious crime.
Pyongyang didn't provide details about the alleged crime, but South Korean press reports say Jun was accused of spreading Christianity.
King, the US envoy for North Korean human rights, traveled to Pyongyang with a team of specialists earlier in the week to assess the severity of the latest of North Korea's chronic food shortages.
He said he spent three and a half days in talks with North Korean Foreign Ministry officials. He did not specify how much time was spent discussing Jun but tried to quash any speculation that the US had offered aid to obtain his freedom.
"We did not negotiate or agree to any provision of food assistance," King told reporters. He said he would report back to Washington.
KCNA announced Friday that North Korea would release Jun after King "expressed regret at the incident on behalf of the US government and assured that it would make all its efforts to prevent the recurrence of similar incident."
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Friday that he did not have details on the talks and could not confirm whether King had expressed regret. He said Jun was in decent health, with King having visited him Thursday.
"We welcome their decision. It's certainly a positive step," Toner told a news conference.
Toner said the release would have no bearing on the US decision on whether to provide food aid and on restarting dialogue with the North. On engaging North Korea, Toner said the US was still looking for "concrete actions" and an improvement in the North's relations with South Korea.
The envoy, Robert King, accompanied Eddie Jun on a flight from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, and told reporters after arriving in Beijing that Jun would return to the United States to be reunited with his family "within a day or two."
Jun did not appear with King before reporters in Beijing. Jun appeared in good spirits, smiling with King as they boarded the plane in Pyongyang, according to footage from Associated Press Television News.
Jun, a Korean-American from California who traveled to North Korea several times and had business interests there, was arrested in November, with the North's official Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA, saying he was accused of committing a serious crime.
Pyongyang didn't provide details about the alleged crime, but South Korean press reports say Jun was accused of spreading Christianity.
King, the US envoy for North Korean human rights, traveled to Pyongyang with a team of specialists earlier in the week to assess the severity of the latest of North Korea's chronic food shortages.
He said he spent three and a half days in talks with North Korean Foreign Ministry officials. He did not specify how much time was spent discussing Jun but tried to quash any speculation that the US had offered aid to obtain his freedom.
"We did not negotiate or agree to any provision of food assistance," King told reporters. He said he would report back to Washington.
KCNA announced Friday that North Korea would release Jun after King "expressed regret at the incident on behalf of the US government and assured that it would make all its efforts to prevent the recurrence of similar incident."
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Friday that he did not have details on the talks and could not confirm whether King had expressed regret. He said Jun was in decent health, with King having visited him Thursday.
"We welcome their decision. It's certainly a positive step," Toner told a news conference.
Toner said the release would have no bearing on the US decision on whether to provide food aid and on restarting dialogue with the North. On engaging North Korea, Toner said the US was still looking for "concrete actions" and an improvement in the North's relations with South Korea.
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