N. Korea Says It Is Holding U.S. Citizen

[alp227]

Source: Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea confirmed Thursday that it has arrested an American man for committing an unspecified crime and is preparing to indict him.

The man, identified by the North's official Korean Central News Agency as Jun Young Su, is the latest U.S. citizen to be detained in the reclusive communist state in recent years.

North Korea informed Washington about the situation and Jun is being given necessary humanitarian conveniences including consular contact with Swedish Embassy officials in Pyongyang, the news agency dispatch said.

Earlier this week, the U.S. State Department called for North Korea to release one of its citizen and said Swedish officials had visited the American. But it gave no further details.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/04/13/world/asia/AP-AS-NKorea-American-Detained.html

[Akoto]

1. Must be time for them to get fresh supplies. n/t

[customerserviceguy]

2. What did they do, kidnap him from Cleveland?

If you're an American citizen, you take your chances if you go to North Korea. Bill Clinton isn't likely to swoop in and rescue you, especially if you're a guy.

[AsahinaKimi]

3. ah now I see...

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Thursday that a Korean-American with business interests in North Korea was being detained for alleged Christian proselytizing. Yonhap, citing the Korean Christian community in the United States, said the man is in his 60s, attends a Korean church in Orange County, California, and has a North Korean visa.

So he figured he could just walk into the "lions den" and have at it, by trying to convert North Koreans to Christianity without getting caught? In a country that doesn't allow religion? wow,
good luck on that..

[Betty Karlson]

4. Or he decided to be a martyr

Standing up against intolerance, demonstrating the evils of a system, is not necessarily a bad thing.

[AsahinaKimi]

5. doubt he would be executed

Just probably sentenced for a long, long stay in prison. This isn't exactly Dubai, ya know.

[Betty Karlson]

6. Quite so. n/t