Monday, October 05, 2015

Thank you, North Korea.

I take it the State Department has been busy. Well done.

In this photo provided by the South Korean Unification Ministry, South Korean Won Moon Joo, center, who has a permanent resident status in the United States, is escorted by a South Korean official at the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 5, 2015. North Korea freed a South Korean national who'd been attending New York University before his detention, Seoul officials said Monday, in a possible sign Pyongyang wants better ties with rival Seoul and may back away from a recent threat to launch a long-range rocket later this month. (The South Korean Unification Ministry via AP)

October 5, 2015
By Hyung-jin Kim

Seoul, South Korea (AP) — North Korea (click here) on Monday freed a South Korean national who is a student at New York University, in a possible sign it wants better ties with rival Seoul and may back away from a recent threat to launch a long-range rocket later this month.
North Korean state media said it "deported" Won Moon Joo, 21, at the border village of Panmunjom as a "humanitarian" measure about six months after he had been arrested for crossing the Chinese border into North Korea. It didn't elaborate.
South Korean officials confirmed Joo's repatriation. The National Intelligence Service, South Korea's main spy agency, said it will investigate whether Joo violated the country's anti-North Korean security law, which prohibits unapproved travel to the North.
Joo has permanent residency status in the United States. The exact motivation for his travel to North Korea wasn't clear....