Canadian Pastor Detained in North Korea

[misskit]

A Canadian pastor who traveled to North Korea in late January has been detained, his family said.

The Rev. Hyeon Soo Lim, 60, a native of South Korea, arrived in Rajin, North Korea, in late January and traveled to Pyongyang on a humanitarian mission, and he has not been heard from since. According to media reports, Lim's family has received notice from Canadian officials that North Korea is holding him.

The Canadian foreign ministry confirmed the detention of a Canadian citizen by Pyongyang without identifying the detainee.

“We are aware of a Canadian citizen detained in North Korea. Consular officials are in contact with family members and providing assistance to them,” said Caitlin Workman, a spokeswoman for Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, in an e-mail sent to the VOA Korean service Thursday.

Workman said the Canadian government “had long advised and continues to advise against any and all travel by Canadians to North Korea. Canadians should not travel to North Korea under any circumstance,” adding the “ability of Canadian officials to provide consular assistance is extremely limited.”

The Canadian official declined to provide further information for “privacy reasons.”

The North Korean government has yet to make a statement on Lim’s detention.

A close associate of Lim told the VOA Korean service that the pastor traveled to Pyongyang on January 31 and has been out of contact. The associate said Lim initially was believed to be under quarantine imposed by the North Korean government in an effort to prevent the Ebola virus from getting into the country. After waiting for about three weeks after he did not show up for his departure on February 4, Lim’s family contacted the Canadian government to seek help.

Lim leads the Light Korean Presbyterian Church in Mississauga, Ontario, and has been running various humanitarian projects to support nurseries and orphanages in North Korea since 1996, when the communist country was hit with severe famine. The latest trip was part of a routine humanitarian mission. Lim immigrated to Canada in 1986 and has a wife and an adult son.

Lim is the second Korean-Canadian held by the North. In 2007, another Korean-Canadian pastor was held and later released by the country for worshipping in public.

Canadian Pastor Detained in North Korea

[misskit]

Canadian Pastor Still Being Interrogated in North Korea, Sources Say


FILE - Lim Hyeon-soo speaks during a news conference at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on July 30, 2015.


A Canadian pastor of South Korean descent is still being interrogated in North Korea, where he has been held for almost a year, his fellow pastor has told VOA.

Rev. Hyeon-soo Lim, who leads the Light Presbyterian Church in Toronto, Canada, has been detained by the North Korean government and has not been in contact with family or friends since January 31.

His fellow pastor, Lisa Pak, told VOA News she heard about the continued interrogation from a former high-level Canadian official who used to work for the Stephen Harper administration. She said Canadian officials have visited Pyongyang and met with North Korean authorities twice since Lim's detention, but have not made any meaningful progress.

But Pak said the official was unable to disclose the details of Lim's detainment, including the specific location.

The Canadian government has declined to confirm the talks with North Korean authorities. François Lasallle, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, told VOA the government is deeply concerned about Lim and that it is providing consular assistance to his family.

Back in July, Lim made his first public appearance at a news conference in Pyongyang. Reading from a statement, he confessed to activities aimed at toppling the North Korean government and to violating the country's Ebola quarantine policy.

"I have so far malignantly defamed the dignity and social system of [North Korea,]" Lim said, in the televised conference. His fellow Christians believe that to be a forced confession by the North.

Lim traveled into North Korea from China on January 30, to aid projects established by his church in the northeastern city of Rajin. The projects include aiding an orphanage, a nursery and a nursing home.

The Light Presbyterian Church considers such trips as "routine." Lim had previously visited the North more than 100 times.

Lim's family is refraining from public activities to raise awareness of his detainment for fear such activities will negatively impact Pyongyang's decision to release him.

Canadian Pastor Still Being Interrogated in North Korea, Sources Say

[VocalNeal]

Instead of calling him a Candian pastor of South Korean descent why don't they call him a native South Korean pastor with a Canadian passport.

He knows exactly what he is doing? Leave him there.

Which I suspect is what the Canadian Diplomatic Service will do.

[lom]

It is gods will that he got interrogated. muhahaha