North Korea detains U.S. citizen, adding to rising tensions
Professor now third American being held
@jmbacon USA TODAY
A U.S. citizen arrested in North Korea raises to three the number of Americans now detained by Kim Jong Un’s regime and adds to rising tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that a former Korean-American professor was arrested at Pyongyang International Airport as he was attempting to leave the country.
Yonhap identified the American by only the surname Kim and described him as a former professor at the Yanbian University of Science and Technology in Yanji, Jilin, China. Yonhap said Kim, in his late 50s, had been involved in aid programs in North Korea. The reason for his arrest was not immediately available.
The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports an American had been detained but declined to reveal details. It noted in a statement, “In cases where U.S. citizens are reported to be detained in North Korea, we work with the Swedish Embassy, which serves as the United States’ Protecting Power in North Korea.”
The Swedish Embassy confirmed to multiple news organizations that an arrest took place Saturday but did not immediately respond to a request for more information from USA TODAY.
Park Chan-mo, the chancellor of the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, identified the man to the Associated Press as Tony Kim. Park told AP Kim had taught accounting in Pyongyang for about a month.
Relations between the U.S. and North Korea have grown more strained in recent months, with Pyongyang conducting nuclear and ballistic missile testing in defiance of international bans.
Ahn Chan-il, director of the World North Korea Research Center in Seoul, told Yonhap that Pyongyang “seems to be intending to use professor Kim as leverage in negotiations” with the U.S.
Other Americans being held are Ohio native Otto Warmbier, a University of Virginia student arrested in January 2016 while he was on a tour, and Kim Dong Chul, who was arrested in October 2015 while on business.