North Korea says it will free detained U.S. citizen
North Korea said on Friday it will free an American detained for reportedly proselytizing after a visiting U.S. official expressed regret. Eddie Jun was arrested in November and accused of committing a serious crime against North Korea, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said. Pyongyang didn’t provide details about the alleged crime, but South Korean press reports say Mr. Jun, a Korean—American with business interests in North Korea, was accused of spreading Christianity.
Robert King, the U.S. envoy for North Korean human rights who is visiting the country this week, “expressed regret at the incident on behalf of the U.S. government and assured that it would make all its efforts to prevent the recurrence of similar incident,” North Korea’s news agency said. Mr. King is leading an American delegation trying to verify food supply surveys by the United Nations and U.S.—based charities and see if there are ways to monitor aid distribution. Officials at the U.S. embassies in Seoul and Beijing declined to comment. Former President Jimmy Carter also asked for Mr. Jun’s pardon during a recent visit, the North said.
North Korea gave M. Jun medical treatment and allowed him to make regular contact with the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, which represents U.S. interests in the country, and to talk by phone with his family, the North Korean news agency said. The United States, which fought on South Korea’s side during the 1950—53 Korean War, doesn’t have diplomatic staff based inside North Korea. Several Americans have been detained in North Korea in recent years, and they were often freed only after high—profile negotiations. During another visit in August, Mr. Carter brought home a man sentenced to eight years’ hard labour for crossing into the country from China. Korean—American missionary Robert Park walked into North Korea on Christmas Day 2009 to draw attention to the North’s alleged human rights abuses and to call for the resignation of leader Kim Jong Il.