North Korea...why did you detain an old man?

Both the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post devoted front-page space to an 85-year-old man who has been detained in North Korea the day he was to return to American soil. It is unclear why they are holding the man, though it is speculated that being a Korean War veteran has something to do with it. He was pulled aside by authorities to discuss his military experience before being detained later.

It is rare that I find the WSJ taking the wrong tone with their writing, but this article was different. Throughout the piece, the journalist refers back to American officials and their frustration with North Korea and their unwillingness to reach peace over nuclear weapons. What I want to scream is: why are we still “sympathetic” toward NK when they are detaining American citizens (even 68 year olds!!)? This article makes it seem like we are worried to make too much of a fuss over the detainees because it will harm the barely functioning relationship we have with the leaders of NK.

The WSJ article utilizes some interesting interviews. Koryo Tours, a Beijing based tour company, having nothing to do with the detained man, says that they have never had a problem with American tourists, even veterans. Another interview took place with a woman who had used Koryo Tours to travel to NK 90 times says she has no knowledge of any US Korean War Vets that traveled using the company (is there a point to these interviews?).

The WSJ says there are now two men currently detained in NK, while the WP says that “at least six Americans have been detained since 2006” but doesn’t say if they are currently being held. The WSJ article seems to focus less on the man and more on the volatile relationship between the countries. It ends its article with: “Earlier this year, North Korea allowed a U.S. Korean War veteran into the country on a humanitarian mission to recover a fellow Navy pilot's remains, though adverse conditions prevented the recovery from taking place,” but doesn’t explain the adverse conditions.

The WP article seems aimed more at letting the article know what is going on with the missing man (his son hasn’t been told why his father was detained and NK hasn’t yet publicly acknowledged detaining the older man) but gives small details to let the reader know that relations between the countries are less than perfect. For those of us who don’t know our American History, it was helpful to read that the Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, and that the NK leaders are using the war as propaganda: the US and Seoul are trying to bring down the political system.

This piece also points out that the other detainees have been visiting on missionary trips and that it is unusual to detain a tourist. They also point out that the ‘secretive’ government of NK is suspicious of tourists and monitors visitors to the country. This article seems to point questions in the right direction: what does NK think this man knows that’s worth detaining him even at such an old age? I also like that this article tells us that the US does not have an embassy in NK due to poor relations and that we have to work through the Swedish ambassadors to get him back.