North Korean authorities have detained a...
The 28-year-old Robert Park was detained at the North Korean-Chinese border on December 24, the news agency said. Park"s fellow activists were quoted by Yonhap as saying he entered the country to call international attention to the large number of human rights violations in the communist state, which is believed to maintain several concentration camps for political prisoners.
The activists reportedly said Park, the leader of a coalition of more than 100 groups focusing on the country"s notorious human rights conditions, crossed into North Korea over the frozen Tumen River separating the two countries.
Western media said the detainee was believed to be a member of a Christian organization called Life and Freedom for North Koreans: 2009.
Yonhap quoted a report by North Korea"s Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying the case was being investigated by a "relevant organ."
The U.S. State Department on Monday reportedly expressed concern over the detention.