An American tourist has been detained by police in North Korea. Kenneth Bae, 44, was visiting North Korea on a five-day trip, with a group of five other tourists in the city of Rajin, reported NBC News.
Do Hee-youn who is a human rights activist in North Korea as well as the head of the Citizens' Coalition for Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees said to NBC News, "What we know is that he is a person who wants to help poor children, kotjebis (homeless children), and he took pictures of them to support them later."
NBC News reported that the Swedish Embassy, who handles affiras with U.S. citizens because Washington does not have diplomatic relationships there, has not commented on whether they are aware of the arrest.
The paper, Kookmin Ilbo reported that Bae could be released in two to three weeks, but NBC News was not able to confirm the report to be true. The paper stated that Bae was arrested because he was carrying a computer hard disk which had footage on it of North Korea executing defectors.
The U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a news briefing that they did not have any news. "I don't have anything for you on that one way or the other, for privacy reasons."
Reuters reported that North Korea has been a place of trouble for U.S. Citizens. In 2009 for example, two U.S. citizens were held in North Korea after they entered the country illegally. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton flew to Yongyang to get the two journalists released.
Also in 2009, a missionary, Robert Park was also arrested in North Korea after he entered and Reuters reported that he said he was tortured for protesting against North Korea's human rights history.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
