Kim Dong Chul (businessman)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kim Dong Chul | |
|---|---|
 Kim (center) with President Donald Trump after his release in 2018 | |
| Born | 1953 (age 72–73) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Detainment | |
| Country |  North Korea |
| Detained | October 2015 |
| Released | May 9, 2018 |
| Days in detention | 950 |
| Sentence | Ten years of hard labor |
| Reason for detention | Espionage[1] |
Kim Dong Chul (born 1953) is a Korean-American businessman who was imprisoned by the government of North Korea (DPRK) in October 2015 and sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for espionage.[1] Following his release, Kim has admitted to working with South Korea's National Intelligence Service and the United States' Central Intelligence Agency.[2]
Kim was one of three U.S. citizens imprisoned in that country to be released on May 9, 2018.[3] The others were Tony Kim, also known as Kim Sang-duk (arrested on April 21, 2017), and Kim Hak-song (arrested on May 7, 2017).[1][4][5]
Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1953. In 1980, he emigrated to the U.S., later becoming a Baptist pastor and a naturalized U.S. citizen.[6][7] He settled in Fairfax, Virginia.[8][9][10][11][12][13]
In 2000, Kim moved to China with his wife, a Chinese Korean, to work as a missionary. He subsequently applied to enter North Korea, and by 2004 was residing in the Rason Special Economic Zone, where he built a hotel.[2][14][6]
Imprisonment in North Korea
Kim was arrested in October 2015.[1][7] His status was not publicly known until January 2016, when North Korean authorities introduced him to a CNN crew visiting Pyongyang. CNN was allowed to interview Kim, but only through an interpreter.[14][15] In March 2016, he appeared at a government-arranged news conference in Pyongyang and "apologized for trying to steal military secrets in collusion with South Koreans"; the South Korean authorities have denied any involvement.[1] In April 2016, North Korea sentenced Kim to 10 years of hard labor for espionage and other crimes.[1]
Kim's arrest and captivity, according to Russell Goldman of The New York Times, followed a pattern also seen with other detentions of U.S. nationals by North Korea: "A forced confession, a show trial, a sentence to years of hard labor with little chance of appeal."[1]
