As a Roman Catholic living in Korea, I have been moved by the many Catholic martyrs who built the beachhead here in Asia for Christian faith. Most prominently is Saint Andrew Kim Taegon, the first ethnic Korean Catholic priest who was tortured and martyred for our Blessed Lord in the 19th century. Father Andrew is the Patron Saint of Korea.

Some on this blog scoff at the fervor and commitment of Korea’s Christian missionary enterprise and doubt the impact the Christians have on North Korea, especially the underground church and railroad. Your words give me encouragement – and I am sure other readers of One Free Korea blog will also take courage from your testimony and endorsement of Robert Park’s intrepid proclamation to the suffering people of the DPRK.

When it is all said and done, more will have been done by the praying people of Korea and their brethren around the world who are praying down the walls that separate the two Koreas and bind the suffering people of North Korea in the coerced facade that is Juche.

During the early abolitionist movements Christians sold themselves into slavery as both a form of protest and also to show love to the slaves. I feel that Robert Park is following this model.

What is sad is that no one else, including myself, is courageous enough to follow him. If even 10 people followed it would become an international incident.

I hope Robert knew you were gonna try that stunt; it’s his life on the line here. Perhaps when you sell it, you can wire the cash directly to Bill Richardson, because let’s face it, it probably isn’t gonna be free to get that clown out again.

Bad to more bad. I’m saving worse for later.

You completely miss what is really happening here: a bold summons to the North Korean underground Church to take courage.

When we invaded Iraq in 2003, I had the privilege of working closely with Iraq’s minority Christian community in Baghdad. They had no idea what people outside Iraq thought about them or if other Christians knew they were there at all. It was a great boost to their morale to learn that people around the world did care – and were willing to help.

Regardless of the appearance of Robert Park’s incursion into the DPRK, his actions will attract international media attention and the Norks will find out about it, and not just the KCNA version. The underground Church will be emboldened by his audacity, and this can only bode well for Noth Koreans.

The more the underground Church feels supported by forces outside North Korea, the weaker the regime’s stranglehold on the impoverished people. While some may mock Bob Park’s faith and actions, we need to realize that other people of like deep and sincere faith will take courage from his bold foray into the hell hole that is the DPRK.

Not worse, in the sense that he’s clearly not all there, which may make him more an object of pity than anger.

China absolutely doesn’t want to deal with this now, but that’s what they get for not reinforcing the border. It’s an embarassment and a sideshow for the broader Sino-North Korean relationship; if anything, Robert Park’s leap of faith is going to force Xi Jinping and the CCP to walk back (internally, that is) their recent suggestions (which pressured NK) that they were open to dealing with cross-border refugees via international law.

How this acts to reinforce or derail the rapproachment track for US-NK relations is anyone’s guess. In the meantime, heaven only knows where they are taking Mr. Park. If his actions thus far succeed in focusing attention on the broader issues rather than his own mental state, then perhaps something positive can come out of this. But from the Chinese standpoint, once Robert Park _is_ discussed in the media or on BBS boards, it’s far more likely that he will be depicted as another American disrespectful of China’s laws and territorial integrity rather than as a principled man whose convictions need to be deeply thought upon.