He was subsequently detained on suspicion of violating the National Security Law.
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“I am well and there’s no need to worry, because the people here have treated me with the best of humanitarian treatment”, Joo said from an undisclosed location in Pyongyang.
He allegedly confessed to entering North Korea illegally in a freakish interview with CNN in May. He then scaled two barbed-wire fences and crossed several miles of farmland before coming to a river.
While most would balk at the prospect of arrest in North Korea, a notoriously reclusive country with a reputation for brutal labor camps, a few detainees are arrested by choice. He also assured his family that he was “healthy”.
Joo is a South Korean citizen with permanent resident status in the United States.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korea Studies, said Pyongyang may rethink its plan to fire a long-range rocket because of the visit. “We can see in this situation that North Korea responds to the demands of China”.
NYU confirmed following Joo’s arrest that he was a student at the Stern School of Business but not enrolled in classes during the spring semester. In September, Won-moon made an appearance at another new conference.
North and South Korea agreed in August to improve ties, after a standoff that threatened to become an armed conflict.
Joo, who according to KCNA last month was 21 years old, has appeared on North Korean media and said he was in good health.
The Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece daily for the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, carried the piece in honor of the 70th anniversary of the party’s founding on October 10. It is unclear what prompted the young man’s release.
“It’s a relief that North Korea has chose to repatriate our national, Joo”, the official noted, adding that the North should also send home three other South Koreans still held in the country – missionary Kim Jung-wook, Kim Kuk-gi and Choe Chun-gil. They include crimes like acts of espionage, or intentions to establish a few churches and Christian movements in the North; both of these are regarded as serious crimes by Pyongyang.
New York University spokesperson John Beckman expressed relief that the student had been recovered.
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Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken came to Seoul and met with Seoul’s Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo and other Seoul officials.
