North Korea deports detained S Korean citizen

Joo Won-moon, 21, who was detained in April, had given public testimony about his arrest and illegal entry, most recently in late September, when he said he hoped for leniency in a country that had met him in a “welcoming atmosphere”.

South and North Korea will exchange letters to confirm whether applicants for a reunion of families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War are still alive about two weeks ahead of the agreed event, Seoul’s unification ministry said Monday.

North Korea’s highest court in June sentenced two of the South Koreans, who were accused of spying, to hard labour for life, calling the punishment a lesson for those who conspire with the US and South Korea.

“We have observed the discharge of water, transportation of equipment to the facility, and a few indications of operations of the 5-megawatt reactor”, IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano said, during a meeting with top South Korean officials, including Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and nuclear envoy Hwang Joon-kook, South Korea’s official Yonhap News Agency reported. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service says it is launching an investigation to see if Joo broke any South Korean laws by trying to cross the border.

The Ministry also urged Pyongyang to release the three other detained South Koreans.

Joo is still in South Korea, where he could potentially face charges for entering North Korea without government permission. The exact motivation for his travel to North Korea was not clear.

Sonny Kim, executive vice president of the Korean-American Association of New Jersey, said he was not surprised that Joo had been released, because of the publicity North Korea has tried to generate over his case.

The defense power is the dignity and the sovereignty of North Korea as well as a guarantee for victory, Kim stressed.

Prior to his release, North Korea presented Joo to the media.

He told CNN in an interview in May that he had crossed two barbed-wire fences and walked through farmland until he reached a large river. North Korea said it had deported Joo as a “humanitarian measure”. According to reports, the three others are accused of various crimes, including “espionage acts or attempts to establish underground Christian churches”.

The North normally releases them after they have served a short prison term, sometimes in response to a visit by a senior U.S. official.