Australian Christian missionary arrested in Pyongyang

Wed, 19 Feb - 4:49pm

SEOUL, Feb 19 (Reuters) - An Australian man working as a Christian missionary was arrested in Pyongyang on Sunday, the wife of 75 year-old John Short told Reuters on Wednesday.

Short, who was on his second trip to North Korea, was in possession of religious materials that had been translated into Korean, a press release by the family said.

"It's a bit traumatic, it's been 48 hours and my husband is still there," Short's wife, Karen said in a telephone interview from Hong Kong.

"I'm not upset, we're Christian missionaries and we have tremendous support for what we do."

She said the Australian government, which does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea, was using its consulate in Seoul and the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang to handle the case.

Short said that on his first trip to North Korea, her husband had been transparent about his faith and had openly read his bible in front of North Korean government guides when in Pyongyang.

"He's courageous, this is my husband's character," said Short. "I hope things get better -- he's in God's hands, we both totally believe that."

"He won't be intimidated by the communists."

(Reporting By James Pearson; Editing by David Chance)

((james.pearson@thomsonreuters.com)(+82-)(0)(-10-4910-4448)(Reu ters Messaging: james.pearson.thomsonreuters.com@thomsonreuters.net))

Keywords: KOREA NORTH/

URN: 
urn:newsml:reuters.com:20140219:nL3N0LO1K0:4
Topics: 
HK LAW DEF PIA CLJ CRIM LIF RTRS REL HRGT EUROPE KP US SE KR CIV CWP NUCL AU SOCI EUROP DIP NORD EMRG ASIA POL LEN JUDIC NEWS1 GEN CHRI WEU CN AMERS

Contact Us

Due to the security nature of our business, personal meetings are only by pre-arranged appointment.
Phone at any time on

1300 987 995

info@ausmint.com