By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter
North Korea said Friday it would release a U.S. citizen arrested and detained since last Christmas Day for illegally entering the communist state.
Religious activist Robert Park crossed into the North from China by walking across a frozen river to highlight alleged human rights abuses in the reclusive country.
"The authorities concerned have decided to leniently forgive and release him by taking his sincere repentance and acknowledgement of his wrongdoings into consideration," the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
Observers said the decision could help improve North Korea's relations with the United States amid the nuclear standoff.
The North Korean move came as Wang Jiarui, chief of the Chinese Communist Party's international department, was reportedly preparing to visit Pyongyang early next week to prod the North to rejoin the six-party denuclearization talks.
The KCNA claimed Park expressed deep regret for his actions. But it did not mention where or when he would be freed.
"I sincerely repent the sins that I committed by being fooled by the West's false propaganda about the North," the KCNA quoted Park as saying.
However, analysts here expressed strong suspicion over the credibility of the KCNA interview.
They said Park was being used as the North's propaganda tool, claiming that religious freedom has yet to take root in the communist regime despite constitutional guarantees.
According to the KCNA, Park said he was "shocked and felt ashamed" when his Bible was returned to him and he was allowed to attend a service at Pyongyang's Pongsu church.
He allegedly said all North Koreans, including military officers, treated him compassionately and respected his religious and human rights.
"I would not have committed such a crime had I known that North Korea respects the rights of all the people and guarantees their freedom and they enjoy a happy and stable life," Park was quoted as saying.
Last week, the North also claimed to have detained another American for trespassing on its border.
"An American was detained for trespassing on the border of North Korea with China on Jan. 25," the KCNA said. "He is now being questioned by local authorities."
The DongA Ilbo newspaper in Seoul, citing an unnamed North Korean source, said the American, whose identity is unknown, said he "wants to serve in the North Korean military because he did not want to become cannon fodder in the capitalist military."
In 2009, the reclusive North detained two American journalists for illegal entry.
Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor but pardoned last August after four months in captivity when former U.S. President Bill Clinton visited the country.
leeth@koreatimes.co.kr
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