THE KUKMIN DAILY

According to December 16 reports by AP, Xinhua and other press agencies, Rev. Im Hyeon-soo (60), the pastor of Keunbit Church in Toronto, Canada, who has been detained in North Korea for some time, has been sentenced by the North Korean government to life in prison at hard labor. Rev. Im was judged guilty of plotting to overthrow the regime; further information has not come out.

During Kim Jong Un’s rule, Rev. Im is not the first overseas Korean or Korean citizen to be arrested and given a heavy sentence. But the sentence of life in prison at hard labor means confinement and mistreatment under forced labor, which is difficult to endure for 3~5 years, even if one is healthy. Thus it is considered no less heavy a penalty than a death sentence.

Church circles are strongly criticizing North Korea and demanding the speedy release of Rev. Im. The Communion of Churches in Korea (CCIK; Rev. Cho Il-rae, executive director) said, “We cannot contain our shock over the heavy sentence given to Rev. Im, who has been carrying out humanitarian support activities to share love with his North Korean brothers and sisters…North Korea should stop their politically motivated persecution of the innocent Rev. Im, and release him immediately.”

Lee Byeong-dae, secretary-general of the Korean Association of Church Communication, questioned, “If even one who tries to help suffering people in North Korea is thrown into a concentration camp for political criminals and sentenced to life, who in the world will help such a degenerate country?” He added, “This decision means that North Korea is choosing to be isolated from international society.”

Reporters Park Ji Hun & Paek Sang-hyun (lucidfall@kmib.co.kr), with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)


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