The Detention of Mr. Yu Gains International Coverage

Finally, we are seeing more international concern for the welfare of the South Korean national who was detained at the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North Korea months ago, known only by his family name, “Yu.”

Amnesty International has called for “urgent action” over Yu’s case. From Yonhap:

The Hyundai Asan Corp. employee, 44, was detained in a North Korean industrial park in March on charges of “slandering” the North’s political system and trying to persuade a North Korean female employee to defect.

“He has been held incommunicado since then, putting him at risk of torture or other ill treatment,” Amnesty International said in a statement issued on Friday.

An editorial in the JoongAng Ilbo criticizes the South Korean government’s handling of the situation, saying officials have dealt with the case in a “passive manner.”

When looking at how the U.S. and ROK governments are dealing with recent detentions of U.S./ROK citizens in North Korea, it does appear that both are taking a softer approach on the imprisonments and instead are concentrating more on political issues – at least in public. Maybe such an approach is more appropriate for governments to take right now – let governments deal with the nuclear issue and private organizations like AI take over on publicizing the actual detentions.

I’m sure both the U.S. and ROK governments are working silently behind the scenes for the release of their citizens. I’ve heard through the grapevine that the U.S. has been doing so, but officials have supposedly run into a brick wall in attempts to free Ling and Lee at this time.

What the government can do in regard to these cases, (specifically South Korea), is denounce North Korea’s behavior at the U.N. Human Rights Committee, as the JoongAng Ilbo editorial suggests.

Civic groups, the media and citizens may have to take up the burden of keeping the stories in the headlines. It seems Ling and Lee supporters have done an excellent job of doing just that, and a skimming of today’s (English) headlines of Korea news shows that Yu’s case is now just starting to gain international coverage as well. Let’s hope such support can continue in the long run because I have a feeling these individuals won’t be freed as soon as I had originally hoped.