"North Korea has detained another Christian missionary. Todd Nettleton, a spokesman with the Voice of the Martyrs USA, explains, “What we know right now is what’s being reported by Reuters and from Australian media outlets: the arrest or detention of an Australian Christian worker, a man named John Short, inside Pyongyang.”
"Short, aged 75, was reportedly arrested on Feb. 16. Nettleton says, “He’s been a Gospel worker in Asia for a long period of time [and] has been based in Hong Kong decades. He’s worked a lot in Communist China. This is his second trip into North Korea. Apparently he was part of a tour group there.” Family members say he was found with Christian literature in his possession, which is what got the attention of North Korean authorities.
"A resident of Hong Kong for the last 50 years, Short has already been interrogated while in detention. “We know that the North Koreans are very concerned about South Korean Christians doing work inside of North Korea. They would wonder, ‘Who helped you to translate these materials into the Korean language?’” (This is a blog post of the same title and content as the pamphlet Short had in his possession at the time of his arrest.)"
Please read more at North Korea Arrests Australian Missionary, by Ruth Kramer, Mission Network News.
"Short, aged 75, was reportedly arrested on Feb. 16. Nettleton says, “He’s been a Gospel worker in Asia for a long period of time [and] has been based in Hong Kong decades. He’s worked a lot in Communist China. This is his second trip into North Korea. Apparently he was part of a tour group there.” Family members say he was found with Christian literature in his possession, which is what got the attention of North Korean authorities.
"A resident of Hong Kong for the last 50 years, Short has already been interrogated while in detention. “We know that the North Koreans are very concerned about South Korean Christians doing work inside of North Korea. They would wonder, ‘Who helped you to translate these materials into the Korean language?’” (This is a blog post of the same title and content as the pamphlet Short had in his possession at the time of his arrest.)"
Please read more at North Korea Arrests Australian Missionary, by Ruth Kramer, Mission Network News.
John and Karen Short, AP Photo "The wife of an Australian Christian missionary being detained in North Korea says she knows nothing of his whereabouts or welfare.
"John Short, 75, arrived in Pyongyang on Saturday and was taken from his hotel by local police days later.
"His travel companion, Wang Chong, has told the ABC Short left pamphlet materials promoting Christianity on a tour of a Buddhist temple.
"Authorities were informed later by Short’s local tour company of his action, which breaches North Korean laws against spreading religious material.
"Short’s wife, Karen, says she has had no contact from her husband since he left Hong Kong on Wednesday.
"While she was not unwise to any danger, she was not frightened.
“'We both knew before he went in what he was going into,” Karen Short told Fairfax Radio. “It’s a difficult country but as Christians that’s what we do – you go into the difficult places to make a difference.'”
Read more at North Korea Missionary Arrest: Wife of John Short Awaits News of His Fate, by Australian AP, at The Guardian.
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