Comments on: Chosun Ilbo: North Korean guards beat Robert Park “to within an inch of his life.”

By: Alec

Alec — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:20:23 +0000

From what I can see, it would be a bit unfair to compare Park to the likes of Norman Kember. Yes there were going to be ramifications of his actions, but he must have been surely aware that he was placing himself in very real danger… unlike the likes of Kember who saw it as a jolly wheeze.

Park is a holy fool.

By: kushibo

kushibo — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:41:26 +0000

Sarah, Mr Park was not some teenagers snatched off a beach in South Korea or in Japan. He wasn't an escapee of the North forcibly taken back after Chinese authorities captured him hiding out in, say, Shenyang. He is a person who knowingly, willingly, and foolishly walked into North Korea, not long after it was clear that his own country had to expend capital of some kind to free two of his countrymen. I find it unbelievable that people find his reckless acts so commendable. Yeah, he's a human being and no one deserves the treatment some papers are now saying he got, but it should not be forgotten that he had a choice to go get this treatment. Others â€”Â others whom he put at risk â€”Â do not.

By: sarah

sarah — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:16:19 +0000

I find it unbelievable that people are weighing in on the outcomes of Robert Park’s actions–I find it almost inhumane and as callous as the North Koreans themselves. Robert Park, a HUMAN BEING, was brutally tortured and there are millions of others that are suffering. Spread awareness… You, Mr. Joshua Stanton, worry about those endangered by his actions?

By: Horace Jeffery Hodges

Horace Jeffery Hodges — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:37:54 +0000

Katja’s heart might be in the right place, but she ought to be embarrassed for posting her comment in such utter ignorance of Joshua’s blog . . . but drive-by commenters rarely drive back by to look into what their potshot has struck.

Jeffery Hodges

* * *

By: Sonagi

Sonagi — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:26:16 +0000

Don’t be too hard on the drive-by commenter, Joshua.

By: Joshua Stanton

Joshua Stanton — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:17:05 +0000

That’s what we do here every day, Katja. This blog is a petition.

By: Katja

Katja — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:13:02 +0000

Instead of picking on the poor guy for what he did, why don’t you all pray for the poor people in North Korea, the North Korean refugees in China and elsewhere, and all the helpers out there working hard to aid them?

Why not use your time to get informed about the terrible human rights violations there and maybe even do something – contact an organization that helps North Korean refugees, spread the word, donate money, write to politicians, start a petition, etc???

By: Sonagi

Sonagi — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:58:45 +0000

“But I am sure that it will, because acts of great sacrifice like this are often necessary to bring about change in seemingly impossible situations. Any student of ~~Christian~~ history can think of many examples.”

Fixed it for you.

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:36:45 +0000

I thought Mr. Parks mission displayed a lot of courage. He knew the consequences and crossed anyway. They say drastic situations call for drastic actions.

BTW I’m sure Mr. Kim was aware that Mr. Park would be beaten and tortured. Yet Mr. Kim risked helping anyway. It seems he felt Mr. Park’s mission was more important than smuggling operations as well.

People who have disregard for Mr. Park, do so because they have disregard for the citizens of N. Korea.

By: Theresa

Theresa — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:30:11 +0000

Kumar, I read your link, but I don’t think the cross was deliberate. Certainly not pre-meditated. I know the article reads like they knew where they were at the moment they crossed, but I think they realized later that they were, indeed, in North Korea. In another news article, they said they think their tour guide tried to trick them.

Anyway- It doesn’t matter- I believe what Park did had been planned for months- not an impulse decision at the border.

I don’t expect most people to understand the point to what Park has done. Sometimes, it takes months..years…to see the fruit in all of this. God’s timing is perfect. But I understand the cynicism.