Freedom

North Korea to Release American

After envoy expresses regret.

North Korea says it will free an American arrested in November. Eddie Jun was detained for crimes unknown, but the South Korean press says he was accused of spreading Christianity. Apparently all it took to get the charges dropped was for U.S. envoy Robert King, who is in the country to monitor food aid, to say he regretted the incident and would do all he could to prevent its repetition. North Korea guarantees freedom of religion, but Christians are viewed with suspicion and sometimes detained as Western agents. Several Americans have been detained in recent years and were freed only after high-profile negotiations by people like former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. The news came on the day Kim Jong Il returned from a trip to China thought to be an attempt to secure aid and investment.