General picture of Pyongyang, North Korea
75-year-old Australian but Hong Kong-based missionary, John Short, after being reported to have gone missing after being questioned by North Korean police, is confirmed to have been detained by authorities there on Monday.
Short was in North Korea with Chinese Christian Wang Chong. Wang has returned to Beijing and claimed that troubles boiled for Short when he left pamphlet materials promoting Christianity at a Buddhist temple they visited. North Korean authorities also found more Christianity materials in Korean in his luggage at his hotel. Wang expressed that it was on the third day of their trip when Short preferred to stay at home, instead of visiting sites, that sparked the suspicions of Pyongyang officials that Short wasn’t there for tourism.
Short was taken away from his Pyongyang hotel on the third day of his small tour group. He’s being held for apparently handing out Korean-language Christian booklets in an attempt to proselytise. Such acts in North Korea are illegal as it fears instigating unrest in the country.
Canberra is currently working with Pyongyang via the Swedish embassy.
Source: SCMP
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
