By Donald Kirk, writing for the Christian Science Monitor
“North Korea planned Thursday to indict a US passport holder on an unspecified charge after the State Department had demanded his release.
Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency said Jun Young-su had ‘admitted his crime,’ but gave no further details. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said Mr. Jun, a member of a Christian congregation in Irvine California, had been accused of spreading religious material when arrested in November.
The case was the latest in a series in which US citizens have been held in North Korea on charges ranging from criticizing the North Korean regime to crossing the border illegally, to Christian proselytizing. Christian worship is banned in North Korea, except in two churches in Pyongyang that are viewed as showcases, opened only for display to foreign visitors as evidence of religious freedom…
The zeal of Christian evangelists in ministering to North Koreans, however, is a constant irritant to the North Korean regime.
‘The evangelical community is incredibly active with regard to North Korea,’ says Daniel Sneider, associate director for research of the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific program at Stanford University. ‘Christian evangelists have been going to the border areas, working in China.’”
Read the rest at: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2011/0414/North-Korea-set-to-indict-US-Christian-accused-of-proselytizing
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