海角大神

A 28-year-old American missionary apparently is getting a reprieve from the North Koreans after having entered the North on Christmas Eve declaring that he was 鈥渂ringing God鈥檚 love to you鈥� and carrying a message of 鈥減eace and goodwill鈥� to North Korea鈥檚 leader, Kim Jong-il.

Instead, according to comments attributed to Robert Park听产测 Pyongyang鈥檚 Korean Central News Agency, the North Koreans have convinced him that he was wrong in his view of the North, whose "concentration camps," Mr. Park said in an earlier interview with Reuters, were "of the same brutality as in Nazi Germany."

In the same report in which the KCNA dispatch announced that Park would be freed, he was quoted as saying that 鈥減eople have been incredibly kind and generous here to me, very concerned for my physical health as never before in my life.鈥� He was, he was quoted as saying, 鈥渧ery thankful for their love.鈥�

Those who befriended Park in his crusade for human rights in North Korea believe the quotes are probably accurate and that North Korea would indeed let him go as announced. But they also say he had no choice but to praise the North Koreans unstintingly as the price to pay for going home.

聽鈥淭here鈥檚 a possibility of brainwashing after 42 days in North Korea,鈥� says Jo Sung-rae, leader of a group here called Pax Koreana that has collaborated in demonstrations and statements with Park鈥檚 organization, 鈥淔reedom and Life for all North Koreans.鈥�

聽Mr. Jo is confident Park will keep up his campaign after his release. 鈥淲hile he was in North Korea, maybe God impressed him with what he can do after his release.鈥�
聽As for the remarks attributed to Park by KCNA, Jo says, 鈥渕aybe they were half his will 鈥� and half God鈥檚 will.鈥�

To human rights workers, Park a hero

No matter what, Jo and other campaigners for human rights in North Korea view Park as a hero for having dared to walk across the frozen Tumen River border with China and hand himself over to a North Korean guard.

Regardless of whether the dear leader, Mr. Kim, ever saw the letter he was carrying, no one doubts that Kim is fully aware of all that Park stands for 鈥� and carefully calculated how long to hold him.

鈥淢aybe they hesitated at first on how to deal with him,鈥� says Kwon Il-young, an editor at Daily NK, which often carries reports based on secret sources inside North Korea. 鈥淭hey may have watched to see how the American government approached them.鈥�

In fact, word of Park鈥檚 impending release comes after a visit here by Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, who met with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan and Unification Minister Hyun In-taek. Mr. Campbell declared US-South Korean relations 鈥渉ave never been better鈥� and 鈥渨e are in lock step on what we should do鈥� vis-a-vis North Korea.

The sum total of the talks, and comments by both Mr. Yu and Mr. Hyun, is that North Korea has to return to six-party talks, last held in Beijing in December 2008, as a prerequisite for separate talks on replacing the Korean War armistice with a peace treaty and lifting UN sanctions.

Sign of reconciliation?

Park鈥檚 release 鈥渋s a sign of reconciliation to neighboring countries,鈥� says Ha Tae Young, who operates NK Open Radio, broadcasting news and analysis from a studio here into North Korea. Mr. Ha believes 鈥渢here might be some underwater talks between North Korea and the US鈥� to bring about Park鈥檚 release 鈥� and get North Korea to return to six-party talks on its nuclear weapons.

The North Koreans also are believed to have demanded a written apology from Park for entering North Korea 鈥渋llegally鈥� 鈥� and then have carried with him a Bible and prayer book, accouterments of 海角大神ity that are banned in the North.

KCNA did not say if he had signed a statement, but said the authorities 鈥渄ecided to leniently forgive and release him,鈥� considering that he had shown 鈥渟incere repentance of his wrongdoings,鈥� including illegal entry into the North.

North Korean authorities, presumably on orders from Kim, exploited Park鈥檚 presence by taking him at least once to one of the two 海角大神 churches in Pyongyang that are widely regarded as showcases for foreign visitors. And the authorities also returned his Bible to him, according to KCNA.

Such treatment 鈥渃onvinced me that I misunderstood,鈥� KCNA quoted Park as saying, and there is 鈥� complete freedom of religion鈥� in the North. He had been fooled, he was reported to have said, by 鈥渇alse propaganda made by the West to tarnish its image.鈥�

Kim Bum-soo, publisher of a conservative political journal here that has carried interviews with Park, doubts that he will stick to these words after he leaves North Korea. 鈥淗e will be different from other people who have been to North Korea,鈥� says Mr. Kim, meaning that he will not have been taken in by propaganda. 鈥淚t will be very interesting what he will say. He will be very sincere.鈥�

Whatever, says Pax Koreana's Jo, Park's mission to North Korea is 鈥淕od's victory鈥� in the Lord鈥檚 鈥渁wesome work to the world.鈥�