Amnesty calls for `urgent action` for S. Korean worker detained in N. Korea

SEOUL, June 30 (Yonhap) -- Amnesty International urged its members around the
world to send appeals to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to release a South
Korean worker who has been detained incommunicado for months.
The London-based rights watchdog called for "urgent action" over the South
Korean, only identified by his family name Yu. The Hyundai Asan Corp. employee,
44, was detained in a North Korean industrial park in March on charges of
"slandering" the North's political system and trying to persuade a North Korean
female employee to defect.
"He has been held incommunicado since then, putting him at risk of torture or
other ill treatment," Amnesty International said in a statement issued on Friday.
North Korea has said an investigation is underway and refused to grant access to
Yu. In government-level talks last month, Pyongyang only said Yu is "well with no
problems." Seoul officials will continue to press North Korea on Yu's case in a
new round of talks on Thursday, but prospects for his early release appear dim.
Amnesty said North Korea appears to be using Yu as a "pawn" in its negotiations
with South Korea over the future operation of the joint park. Pyongyang has
demanded a hefty raise in wages and rent at the park in the North's border town
of Kaesong that hosts more than 100 South Korean firms.
"It is not clear when the North Korean authorities will finish their
investigation," the statement said, "Yu's incommunicado detention for over 80
days appears excessive."
The statement also noted the North Korean detention of two U.S. journalists,
Laura Ling and Euna Lee from a San Francisco-based Internet TV, as another case
of human rights abuses. The Americans were detained in March after crossing the
border with China and sentenced this month to 12 years of hard labor for illegal
entry and "hostile" acts.
Amnesty urged its members around the world to send appeals to the North Korean
leader and other top officials to release Yu "immediately and unconditionally
unless he is charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offense and
tried promptly in proceedings which meet international fair trial standards."
It also demanded North Korea should reveal where he is being detained and give
him access to his family and a lawyer.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)