SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea is backing a push by a rights activist to raise his claim with the United Nations that he was tortured during his four-month detainment in China.

A spokesman for activist Kim Young-hwan said Wednesday that Chinese authorities burned the South Korean with an electronic rod, kept him from sleeping and hit his face. Spokesman Choi Hong-jae said Kim will raise his case with a U.N. human rights organization.