International

Activist: DPRK apparently detains US missionary

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-29 07:54

SEOUL: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) border guards apparently detained an American missionary as soon as he walked into the nation, an activist said yesterday.

Robert Park, 28, slipped across the frozen Tumen River into the DPRK on Christmas Day.

There has been no word from him since.

Jo Sung-rae of the Seoul-based activist group Pax Koreana cited a person who witnessed Park's crossing as saying he heard people speaking on the DPRK side as soon as Park crossed over alone.

Jo quoted the person, one of two people who guided Park, as saying visibility was poor. "But he said he heard people talking loudly when Robert arrived there," Jo added. "I think they were border guards and Robert was taken into custody immediately."

DPRK's state-run media has not mentioned Park or any illegal entries into the country by foreigners. The US State Department and the US embassy in Beijing said they were aware of the incident but had no details.

US embassy spokeswoman Susan Stevenson in Beijing said yesterday the US consulate in Shenyang is treating Park's situation as a "welfare and whereabouts" case and is talking with Chinese authorities. She did not elaborate.

Park's crossing comes just months after the DPRK freed two US journalists arrested in March and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for trespassing and "hostile acts".

Former US president Bill Clinton traveled to Pyongyang to bring the journalists home in August.

Pyongyang waited four days before announcing on March 21 that they had been detained.

Park's parents Pyong and Helen Park, who live in Encinitas, Calif., said on Sunday they last heard from their son in a Dec 23 e-mail, in which he wrote of "incredible miracles".

"Know that I am the happiest in all my life, incredible miracles are happening..." Park wrote. "I am thankful to Jesus because of the opportunity to serve His holy purpose."

Jo said two guides, who he described as DPRK defectors, filmed Park's crossing. One has returned to Seoul, but the other remains in China and is demanding payment for the footage and refusing to hand it over, he said.

Jo, who has been the source for most information about Park, initially requested anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the situation, but is now speaking by name.

Other activists in the Republic of Korea said Park had become known over the last year in Seoul human rights circles for his religious fervor.

Park reportedly carried letters to the DPRK leader Kim Jong-il.

(China Daily 12/29/2009 page12)