An American teacher was detained by North Korea over the weekend, Pyongyang announced on Sunday. Kim Hak-song, who worked for the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology was detained on Saturday, was held on Saturday on suspicion of acting against the state, according to the North’s KCNA news agency. If confirmed, it would make him the fourth American to be held by the totalitarian state as diplomatic tensions with Washington increase.
“A relevant institution of the DPRK detained American citizen Kim Hak Song on May 6 under a law of the DPRK on suspension of his hostile acts against it,” KCNA said referring to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which is the official name for North Korea. Not much is known about Kim Hak-song but in a 2015 online message he described himself as a Christian missionary and said he planned to start an experimental farm at the university to teach North Koreans to become self-sufficient, reports Reuters.
Kim Hak-song is the second teacher at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology to be detained in less than a month. Kim Sang-dok, who taught accounting at the school, was arrested at Pyongyang’s airport on April 22, accused of “committing criminal acts” with the goal of overthrowing the government. The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology is the country’s only private university and has a large number of foreign staff members.
The two other Americans currently being detained in North Korea are Kim Dong-chul, a 62-year-old who was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for spying and Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old student sentenced to 15 years of hard labor after he tried to steal a propaganda banner.
North Korea has a history of detaining Americans as a way to bargain with Washington. But analysts say Kim Jong-un seems to see things differently from his predecessor as he appears to be using the Americans as human shields rather than a tool to get a seat at the negotiating table. “Kim Jong Un is using hostage diplomacy as a part of his military and defense strategy with focus on preventing the U.S. from removing him from power as well as to prevent the U.S. from taking military options against North Korea, ” Dr. An Chan Il, president of the World Institute for North Korea Studies and a former defector, told NBC News. The detentions are also seen as a way for the young dictator to show his power and signal defiance toward President Donald Trump.
North Korea’s latest detention comes as diplomatic tensions increase with the West amid fears that Pyongyang is getting ready to carry out another round of nuclear or missile tests. Although Trump has expressed a willingness to meet with Kim Jong Un under the right circumstances, he has also refused to discard the possibility of taking military action against North Korea.
