On Thursday, North Korea marched a Canadian Christian hostage out in front of cameras, so he could admit to crimes against the glorious State—specifically, the crime of placing God above the “Dear Leadership.”
NKNews.org reports that Reverend Hyeon-soo Lim, a Canadian citizen of South Korean birth, was arrested in January during a missionary visit to North Korea, read a statement confessing to “serious crimes,” including that he “severely slandered and impaired the supreme dignity and system of this country and perpetrated a scheme to overthrow the state.”
“In order to create the impression that it is God, and not the Worker’s Party and this country’s government which give things to eat and provide means to live we intentionally drew the cross and wrote the name of the church and Bible phrases on the sacks of provisions that were donated to several parts of the country such as Chongjin and Jagang Province,” said Lim.
“The purpose that I traveled about several parts of the country on the pretext of ‘aid’ was to build a base to overthrow the system of the country and create a religious state, taking advantage of the policies of the U.S. and and South Korean authorities,” Lim continued. “The basic purpose that I was so active in the (provision of) aid to this country in the past was to remove loyalty in the hearts of the North Korean people to their authorities. I deeply, deeply apologize from my heart for my heart, for my indescribable treason.”
Lim’s family, and his Light Presbyterian Church of Toronto, maintain that he has made over 100 trips to North Korea over the past 20 years out of “tremendous love for the people of the DPRK,” because he is a “compassionate and generous man.”
According to a report by CNN, Lim made this particular journey into North Korea from China “with plans to tend to aid projects established by his church in the northeastern city of Rajin, including an orphanage, a nursery and a nursing home.”
As for the Canadian government, a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development said, “Canada is deeply concerned with the case of Mr. Lim who remains detained in North Korea. We continue to advocate for consular access and for a resolution in his case. In the interest of Mr. Lim’s case, no further information can be shared.”