Eddie Yong Su Jun, a man with OC ties, has been detained in North Korea since last November after being arrested on unspecified charges. Earlier this month, the country's official news agency reported the government's plans to indict the Korean American, saying he has already “admitted his crime.”
Though the agency did not specify the crime, South Korean media have reported that Jun was arrested for proselytizing–a ballsy move if confirmed, as North Korea has been named the most dangerous country to practice Christianity for the ninth year in a row.
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The Orange County Register confirmed that Jun attended Bethel Church in Irvine until about eight years ago, with the church's reverend describing him as “a good guy, a faithful servant.”
Today, Jun's family released an open letter to the communist nation, pleading for his release on humanitarian grounds.
To the Democratic People's Republic of Korea:We write to plead for the humanitarian release of Eddie Yong Su Jun, our loving father and husband, who has been detained by the DPRK since November 2010.We have recently received worrisome news that he has been hospitalized, and we are grateful to the DPRK for supplying him with medical attention. However, we remain extremely concerned about his very sensitive health condition.Though we are aware that the DPRK has a judicial system different from that of the U.S., we strongly doubt that our father's health can withstand the stress of a trial or further detainment. Therefore, we beseech his release as an act of humanitarianism that your nation can bestow upon him and our family.Eddie Jun is a devoted, loving husband and father, and we are very anxious to be reunited with him. We appeal to you for compassion so that our father and husband can safely return home to his family.With Respect,The Jun Family
Former President Jimmy Carter is in North Korea this week to learn more about the relationship between North and South Korea, and to push talks on curbing the regime's development of atomic weapons. Though Carter won the release of another imprisoned American last year, it is uncertain whether he will seek the release of Jun.
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