DPRK frees jailed Canadian national

World
Europe

The DPRK has freed a Canadian man serving a life sentence there on humanitarian grounds, the official KCNA news agency said on Wednesday.

"Rim Hyon Su, a Canadian civilian, was released on sick bail according to the decision of the Central Court of the DPRK on August 9, 2017, from the humanitarian viewpoint," KCNA said.

Hyeon Soo Lim, also known as Rim Hyon Su, 61, was arrested in 2015 for allegedly meddling in DPRK state affairs.

The South Korean-born pastor had been accused of subversive acts against Pyongyang, an allegation which Canadian authorities strongly denied.

Hyeon Soo Lim attends his trial at a court in Pyongyang, Dec. 16, 2015. /Reuters Photo

A Canadian delegation including national security adviser Daniel Jean visited Pyongyang this week to discuss the case.

"Pastor Lim's health and well-being remain of utmost importance to the government of Canada as we continue to engage on this case," said Cameron Ahmad, a spokesman for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Ottawa before the release.

Lim's family told local media they had become more concerned for his welfare since the death in June of American student Otto Warmbier, who had been held in the DPRK for 17 months.

Warmbier, sentenced last year to 15 years' hard labor for trying to steal a propaganda item from his hotel during a tour, died in a Cincinnati hospital just days after being released in a coma. The circumstances of his death remain unclear.

The DPRK is still holding three Americans. The US State Department said last week it would ban US nationals from traveling to the isolated country, beginning in September.

Lim's Toronto-area church has said he visited the DPRK more than 100 times from 1997 and helped set up an orphanage and nursing home. Last year, Lim told CNN he spent eight hours a day digging holes at a labor camp where he had not seen any other prisoners.

808km

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters