A high-profile Korean activist said Tuesday China's harsh treatment of him while being detained there was "detrimental to its own interests."
Kim Young-hwan claimed that he was tortured by Chinese agents, including enduring beatings, electric shocks and sleep deprivation, during his 114 days of detention in China following his arrest in March for helping North Korean defectors there.
Korea has called for China to come clean on the torture allegation, but Beijing flatly denied the claim.
"I don't think torturing was absolutely important for Chinese intelligence agencies, as they had already secured key information (on my activities) by wiretapping and tailing me for about one month before detaining me or possibly even longer," Kim said during a gathering organized by a civic group named Zeitgeist. Kim works for the group.
"But severely torturing me is fatally detrimental to China's own national interests," Kim stressed.
Recalling the harsh treatment he allegedly went through, Kim said the most painful part was "being put in absolute isolation."
"But I could overcome difficulties thanks to a firm belief that many people were striving to rescue us."
The 49-year-old Kim had been held along with three other activists in China, all of whom were sent home on July 20.
Speaking about human rights in North Korea, which he has long been working for, Kim vowed to "concentrate more on activities to promote the North's human rights and its democratization down the road," asking his peers for support and cooperation. (Yonhap)