Seoul: North Korea on Friday said it will free an American detained for reportedly proselytizing after a visiting US official expressed regret.
Eddie Jun was arrested in November and accused of committing a serious crime against North Korea, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said. Pyongyang didn't provide details about the alleged crime, but South Korean press reports say Jun, a Korean-American with business interests in North Korea, was accused of spreading Christianity.
Robert King, the US envoy for North Korean human rights who is visiting the country this week, "expressed regret at the incident on behalf of the US government and assured that it would make all its efforts to prevent the recurrence of similar incident," North Korea's news agency said.
King is leading an American delegation trying to verify food supply surveys by the United Nations and US-based charities and see if there are ways to monitor aid distribution.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner welcomed Jun's release. He said the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, which represents US interests in the country, had confirmed the North was going to free the American. He said Jun was in decent health but did not have details on the American's exact whereabouts on Friday and when he would leave the country.
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