The Australian Department for Foreign Affairs officially announced that "The Government has confirmed through the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang that Mr. Short has been released and was being deported from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea." The Australian missionary reached Beijing in a Koryu Airliner on Monday, after being arrested a month ago after being caught doing missionary work in public.
KCNA, the North Korean news station reported that John Short has officially apologized and admitted that he had violated North Korean laws. They also reported that the regime had released Mr. Short considering his old age.
Short was arrested on February 16th, at Popun Temple, a Buddhist place of worship where he had left Christian materials. He was with Wang Chong, a Chinese Christian, and his tour guide had witnessed what he was doing and reported it to officials. February 26th was also the birthday of Kim Jong Il, the father of Kim Jong Un, and the previous leader of North Korea, which made his "crime" much more serious.
Short explained in his confession that he wanted more Koreans to be Christians and that led him to spread the Bible tracts that he had written himself. He shared how "I heard from the TV and newspaper reports that the DPRK is the closest closed socialist country in the world. I heard from the reports the religious freedom is not in North Korea. And that foreigners are not welcome to visit or attend for the Church. In the process of hearing the reports I questioned if it was true."
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Kenneth Bae, an American missionary who is still held captive in DPRK is suffering from a number of health issues including diabetes, an enlarged heart attack and kidney stones. However, the missionary is still continuing his sentence of hard labor in North Korea.
