Robert Park a 29-year-old American Christian, claiming God showed him a vision of North Korea’s liberation and redemption, has entered the country to urge leader Kim Jong-Il to repent, activists said Saturday.
Brave or mad?
SEOUL — A 29-year-old American Christian, claiming God showed him a vision of North Korea’s liberation and redemption, has entered the country to urge leader Kim Jong-Il to repent, activists said Saturday.
Robert Park, a US citizen of Korean ancestry, crossed the frozen Tumen River from China and walked into the North without permission on Christmas Day, they said.
“While crossing the frozen river in a snowstorm, Park shouted loud, saying ‘I’m a US citizen, I came here to proclaim God’s love’,” a colleague of Park’s told AFP.
“But all were silent on the other side of the river. We assume he was arrested by North Korean border guards there. But we don’t know about his fate,” he said on condition of anonymity.
Park, a self-proclaimed seer and activist, is a leader of an international campaign for North Korean human rights called “Freedom and Life For All North Koreans: 2009,” his colleague said.
The group describes itself as a worldwide coalition of Christian ministries and activists working to promote human rights in the North.
Park reportedly carried a letter addressed to Kim and other leaders calling on them to repent.
“I proclaim Christ’s love and forgiveness towards you today. God promises mercy and clemency for those who repent,” Park said in the letter, which was made public Saturday.
“He loves you and wants to save you and all of North Korea today,” he said.
US embassy officials said they had no information on the reported incident.
The letter urged the North to close all “concentration camps”, release political prisoners and allow care teams to enter “to minister healing to those who have been tortured and traumatized.”
In March this year, two US journalists who crossed into North Korea from China while working on a story about human trafficking spent more than four months in jail for illegal entry.
Television journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years hard labor but were freed as part of a diplomatic mission spearheaded by former US President Bill Clinton in August.
Pajamas Media also has an article on this - Crossing Into North Korea
Tags: News
December 29th, 2009 at 9:03 am
No big surprise that this guy has been arrested:-
BBC
North Korean authorities have said they have arrested a US man who crossed into their territory.
The North’s official KCNA news agency said the man had entered the country from China on 24 December. There is no official word on the man’s identity.
However there have been reports that Robert Park, a US Christian activist, recently crossed into North Korea.
Colleagues say he wanted to highlight the country’s human rights record and demand the release of prisoners.
“On December 24, a US citizen illegally entered the country across the North Korea-China border and has been detained. The person is currently undergoing questioning by a related agency,” KCNA news agency said.
Visions
Associates of Mr Park reported that he had walked into North Korea from China across the frozen Tumen River on Christmas Day, 25 December.
Mr Park, a US citizen of Korean ancestry from Tucson, Arizona, claimed he had seen a vision from God of North Korea’s liberation and redemption, his colleagues said.
They said he walked across the border shouting: “I am an American citizen. I brought God’s love. God loves you and God bless you.”
South Korean activists supporting Mr Park say he carried a letter urging the North’s leader, Kim Jong-Il, to free political prisoners and improve human rights in the communist state.
Earlier this year North Korea detained two US journalists on the border with China.
Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years’ hard labour but were freed as part of a diplomatic mission spearheaded by former US President Bill Clinton in August after four months in captivity.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8433267.stm
December 29th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Well, he’s in good company. Jesus was arrested as well. And you can’t follow a better example regarding human rights issues than the Son of God Almighty.
December 29th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Well said Alan.