Canadian officials on Wednesday were silent on the condition of Hyeon Soo Lim, the pastor who was released by North Korea after a Canadian delegation asked for his release this week.
North Korea said Lim was released because of his poor health, which led to worries in Canada and among Lim’s family that he might suffer the fate of Otto Warmbier, the U.S. student who was held captive and then released only to die soon after he returned to the U.S.
Officials in Canada were not giving any indications about Lim’s health, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail.
“His health and well being remain of utmost importance to the government and we are obviously continuing to engage on his case and, given that it is an active case, we cannot provide any further comment at this time,” a Trudeau spokesman said yesterday, according to Reuters.
Still, Canadian officials were clearly happy with the news of his release.
“Pleased to hear reports that Pastor Lim has been released by North Korea,” Andrew Scheer, leader of Canada’s conservative opposition party, tweeted Wednesday. “Thankful for Canadian negotiators and praying he’s in good health.”
Warmbier’s release and subsequent death was one of the many flashpoints between the U.S. and North Korea, which is still holding three U.S. citizens. The Trump White House made it clear it believed Warmbier was treated poorly while he was being held.
After the United Nations imposed new sanctions against North Korea, news broke that the rogue regime could have the capacity to deliver a nuclear warhead to the United States on a missile, which prompted a war of words between North Korea and the United States.
President Trump warned North Korea not to make “any more threats” against the United States. “They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen,” Trump said Tuesday.
North Korean military officials retorted that they are “carefully examining” a preemptive strike against Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific with major military installations. But Secretary of State Rex Tillerson downplayed the threat during a flight to the island.
“Americans should sleep well at night,” Tillerson told reporters. “I never considered re-routing the trip back, and I do not believe that there is any imminent threat, in my own view.”
Lim, a Korean-Canadian pastor, was arrested on charges of “”subversive plots” against Kim Jong Un’s dictatorship in 2015, during one of more than 100 trips to the country, according to South Korean media. He is the second western prisoner released from North Korea in two months.
The pastor’s release, following the arrival of a Canadian envoy, might auger for the direct negotiations between the United States and North Korea that Russia and China have endorsed. But Tillerson maintained that any talks cannot take place until North Korea recognizes the imperative that they will have to surrender their nuclear weapons program.
“We don’t think having a dialogue where the North Koreans come to the table assuming they’re going to maintain their nuclear weapons is productive,” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters last week.
