Canadian Pastor Detained In North Korea

A Canadian pastor who disappeared more than a month ago after travelling to North Korea for humanitarian work has been detained by authorities in the world’s most reclusive nation, his church said Thursday.

The Light Korean Presbyterian Church said Reverend Hyeon Soo Lim’s family had "received notice from Canadian officials that the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has confirmed that Mr Hyeon Soo Lim is being held in North Korea."

Lim travelled to the isolated nation on January 31 as part of a humanitarian mission, but went missing shortly after his arrival.

The church said 60-year-old Lim, who had made over 100 trips to North Korea prior to his arrest, is facing charges but could not say what they were.

A Canadian government official confirmed the detention of a Canadian citizen, but said that even though Ottawa is trying to help, it has no diplomatic relations with North Korea and so "the ability of Canadian officials to provide consular assistance is extremely limited."

Reverend Chun Ki-Won, the director of Durihana, a South Korean Christian missionary organisation helping North Korean refugees, said Lim had allegedly been asked to come to Pyongyang on January 31, but that the reason for the invitation was unclear and that he feared it was political.

Chun said that some of the food-related projects Lim was involved in were linked to associates of Jang Song-Thaek, the purged uncle of the country’s leader Kim Jong-Un.

Jang is known to have led many joint economic projects before he was dramatically arrested and executed for treason in December 2013.

Ottawa has advised its citizens against all travel to North Korea.

Although religious freedom is enshrined in the North Korean constitution, it does not exist in practice and religious activity is severely restricted to officially-recognised groups linked to the government.

Pyongyang views foreign missionaries with deep suspicion, although it allows access to some who undertake humanitarian work.

However, anyone caught engaging in any unauthorised activities would be subject to immediate arrest.

A number of missionaries – mostly US citizens – have been arrested in North Korea in the past with some of them allowed to return home after interventions by high-profile US figures.

(BALOOGG'SBLOG FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP)