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 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

US Christian arrested for ‘hostile acts’ against North Korea

US Christian arrested for ‘hostile acts’ against North Korea
A fourth US citizen has been detained in North Korea, as he prepared to leave the country after working for several weeks at the Pyongyang University for Science and Technology, which trains the children of North Korea’s elite and which numbers Christians on its staff. The North Korean state-run news agency KCNA said . . . Read More