North Koreans ‘betrayed’ by human rights omission in Trump-Kim agreement

After meeting Kim Jong-un in Singapore, US President Donald Trump said the many North Koreans currently being held in forced-labour camps were “one of the great winners today”. (Photo: ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP/Getty Images)
North Koreans were “betrayed” by the failure of US President Donald Trump to include human rights provisions in his agreement with the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, following their historic meeting in Singapore, according to Human Rights Watch’s Asia Director, Phil Robertson. “The North Korean people have suffered for so long,” . . . Read More

North Korean ex-detainee was told his ‘hostile act against regime’ was prayer

North Korean ex-detainee Kim Hak Song upon return to the United States, at the Joint Base Andrews. (Photo: Cheriss May/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
One of the American citizens who was released by North Korea and returned to the United States last month, was told by his captors he was detained because of the “hostile act” of prayer. Kim Hak Song was arrested on a train from North Korea’s capital Pyongyang to China in . . . Read More

North Korea: US citizens set for release ahead of Trump-Kim talks

The three Americans have been detained on charges ranging from committing "hostile acts" against the regime to spying for a foreign country. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
Three American citizens detained in North Korea seem set to be released ahead of a meeting between the two countries’ leaders next month. The BBC reported that the three men had been “relocated to a Pyongyang hotel and are receiving good food and medical care”. US President Donald Trump tweeted . . . Read More

North Korea frees Canadian church leader ‘on sick bail’

North Korea frees Canadian church leader ‘on sick bail’
Hyeun-soo Lim, the Korean Canadian church leader sentenced to life in prison with hard labour, has been freed today (9 August) “on sick bail”, says a North Korean state news agency. Convicted in December 2015 by the country’s Supreme Court of numerous charges, including an attempt to overthrow the government, he had been detained . . . Read More

Anger and tears as Otto ‘completes his journey home’

Anger and tears as Otto ‘completes his journey home’
The family of 22-year-old Otto Warmbier confirmed his death yesterday (19 June), just a week after he was released, in a coma, from 15 months’ detention in North Korea. In a statement, the family said it was their “sad duty to report that our son, Otto Warmbier, has completed his . . . Read More

Otto Warmbier’s father says ‘no excuse’ for North Korea to deny son medical care

Otto Warmbier’s father says ‘no excuse’ for North Korea to deny son medical care
The father of the 22-year-old American student released, in a coma, from North Korea this week says there’s “no excuse for a civilised nation to have kept his condition secret and to have denied him top-notch medical care”. Fred Warmbier said that he and his wife, Cindy, had gone for . . . Read More

North Korea frees US student Otto Warmbier ‘in coma’

North Korea frees US student Otto Warmbier ‘in coma’
North Korea has freed an American student detained since January 2016, and later sentenced to 15 years’ hard labour, for attempting to steal a propaganda sign from his Pyongyang hotel. Otto Warmbier, 22, is now on his way home, to be reunited with his family, according to US Secretary of . . . Read More

North Korean accused of ‘spying’ after visiting Christian relatives in China

North Korean accused of ‘spying’ after visiting Christian relatives in China
A North Korean man has been arrested on “spying” charges after meeting with Christian relatives in China, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reports.Kim Seung-mo, 61, was arrested on 3 June after visiting family in China’s Jilin province, which runs along the North Korean border. “After he came back from China, he . . . Read More

North Korea’s ‘Christian university’ in balancing act with regime

North Korea’s ‘Christian university’ in balancing act with regime
At a time when North Korea is flexing its military muscles and clamping down on anything that could threaten the rule of leader Kim Jong-un – including religion – the only private university in the country is run by evangelical Christians, explains the New York Times. Pyongyang University of Science and Technology . . . Read More