Freed missionary returns to US

February 7, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

BEIJING (AP) — Robert Park strode illegally into North Korea on Christmas Day, shouting “I brought God’s love” and carrying a Bible. When the communist regime released him Saturday, he left silent and pale.

As the American missionary made his way home to California, loved ones wondered how 43 days of detention in the world’s most-secretive nation had taken their toll on the young man who so brashly demanded religious and political reforms.

Park, his eyes almost closed, made no comment as U.S. consular officials guided him to a transit area in Beijing’s airport after his morning arrival from Pyongyang.

Los Angeles International Airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles said Park arrived on a flight from Beijing on Saturday evening.

In Washington, the State Department welcomed Park’s release. It said Park had asked the government not to provide specifics regarding his release.

The 28-year-old Korean- American crossed the frozen Tumen River from China into North Korea on Dec. 25 carrying letters calling on leader Kim Jong Il to close the country’s notoriously brutal prison camps and step down from power — acts that could have risked execution in the hard-line communist country.

North Korea disclosed nothing about Park during his 43 days in custody before announcing Friday that he would be freed and saying Park now viewed the nation favorably on religious freedom and human rights.

The North Korean government “decided to leniently forgive and release him, taking his admission and sincere repentance of his wrongdoings into consideration,” the official Korean Central News Agency said.

The report by North Korea’s government mouthpiece quoted Park, of Tucson, Ariz., as saying he was ashamed of the “biased” view he once held of the communist nation.

Park said he now was convinced “there’s complete religious freedom for all people everywhere” in North Korea, citing the return of his Bible and a service he attended at Pongsu Church in Pyongyang, KCNA said.

“I would not have committed such crime if I had known that the [North] respects the rights of all the people and guarantees their freedom and they enjoy a happy and stable life,” it quoted him as saying.

Park did not respond to questions from reporters Saturday asking whether he had been speaking freely or under duress.

North Korea’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but the government severely restricts religious observance, only allowing worship — primarily by foreigners — at sanctioned churches. Defectors say underground worship and the distribution of Bibles can mean banishment to a labor camp or execution.

KCNA said Park told the news agency he had felt compelled to go to North Korea to draw attention to reported rights abuses and mass killings, even if it meant risking his life.

North Korea is regarded as having one of the world’s worst human- rights records, with some 154,000 political prisoners held in six camps across the country, according to the South Korean government.