In late April, a university in Pyongyang said the North Korean government had detained one of its adjunct professors, a 50-something American who taught
In late April, a university in Pyongyang said the North Korean government had detained one of its adjunct professors, a 50-something American who taught accounting. On Wednesday, North Korea confirmed through the official Korean Central News Agency that it had indeed detained Tony Kim, and was holding him for “hostile criminal acts with an aim to subvert the country.”
As NPR’s Anthony Kuhn has reported, Kim, who also goes by Kim Sang-duk, was held at the airport in Pyongyang as he was about to leave the country.
“In the past, Pyongyang has demanded that Washington send high-level envoys to obtain the release of U. S. citizens detained in North Korea, ” Anthony reported. “For example, North Korea freed three U. S. citizens during visits by former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter in 2009 and 2010, respectively.”
But Zhang Liangui, a North Korea expert at the Central Party School in Beijing, told Anthony that there might be different motivations for Kim’s detention. “North Korea has already clearly stated that it’s not interested in a dialogue with the U. S. So they’re not necessarily detaining this man for the sake of a dialogue, ” he said.
The university where Kim had been teaching, Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, told Reuters that Kim’s wife, who was with him when he was detained, had returned to the United States.
