Seoul, December 26: A Christian missionary from the US has entered North Korea in order to highlight the plight of tens of thousands of political prisoners estimated to be held in the communist state, a human rights activist said on Saturday.
Robert Park crossed the frozen Tumen River into North Korea from China on Christmas Day to call on North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to release political prisoners and shut down the “concentration camps” where they are held, said the activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the issue’s sensitivity.
North Korea holds some 154,000 political prisoners in six large camps across the country, according South Korean government estimates. The North has long been regarded as having one of the world’s worst human rights records, but rejects outside criticism and denies the existence of prison camps.
The activist would only say he is with Pax Koreana, a conservative Seoul-based group that calls for North Korea to improve its human rights record. He said Park was last seen by another activist who videotaped him entering North Korea on Friday, adding the footage would be released Sunday. It was unclear if he was in custody.
North Korean state media did not mention the reputed crossing.
“We are aware of Robert Park,” said Susan Stevenson, a spokeswoman for the US Embassy in Beijing. She said a charitable organization she did not identify notified the State Department in Washington. The embassy is looking into the case but had no details.
“His fate to us is unknown,” she said.
Park was carrying a letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, according to the activist.
“Please open your borders so that we may bring food, provisions, medicine, necessities, and assistance to those who are struggling to survive,” said the letter, according to a copy posted on Pax Koreana’s Web site. “Please close down all concentration camps and release all political prisoners today.”
The activist identified Park as a 28-year-old Korean-American missionary from Tucson, Arizona. He said Park came to South Korea in July where he stayed until leaving for China earlier this week to enter the North.
He said Pax Koreana is affiliated with another organization called Freedom and Life For All North Koreans, which is a coalition of North Korean human rights advocacy groups. Park is a member of the broader group, he said.
In August, North Korea released two US journalists it sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for trespassing and “hostile acts.” Their release came amid a trip to Pyongyang by former President Bill Clinton
aimed at winning their freedom.
Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were captured by North Korean guards near the Tumen River in March while reporting a story on North Korean defectors.
—Agencies