Remembering Robert Park, American activist in North Korea

Excerpt of an article by Miyoung Monica Kim, chief researcher, Korean War Abductees Research Institute:

Surprisingly silence prevails since Robert Park crossed into North Korea the day before Christmas.

Who is Robert Park to [South] Korea? He presents a weighty subject beyond judicial dimension. Robert Park raises a meaningful question. [His actions] implies that a new kind of peaceful regime without scars and hatred is possible in the war-scarred Korean peninsula. I think that such an all-out, self-sacrificial love itself as shown by Robert Park constitutes enough reasons for North Korea to set him free and for the United States to rescue him.

The incident, had it been committed by a North Korean, is a 'first degree' offense in North Korea's law, classified as a blasphemy against the so-called 'the top', Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. In the case of a foreigner like Robert Park, I do not think he will be branded as a 'first class' criminal on the basis of 'the ten grand principles of unitarian thought' that serves as canon of the absolutism of the chief.

It is true that he entered a foreign territory without permission but his lack of malice and criminal elements in his statements does not allow the United States government to leave this case up to North Korea. It is clear that despite Robert Park's plea not to seek his release, the United States government cannot forsake its constitutional duty to protect its people, much less neglecting a citizen held in North Korea.