BEIJING // Robert Park, the US Christian activist released by Pyongyang last month after trespassing on Christmas Day, was sexually tortured during his detention, news reports and a close associate said.
Much remains murky about what happened to Mr Park during his 43-day ordeal in North Korea after his illegal entry into the country via China. He claimed that he had entered North Korea to confront leader Kim Jong Il about the country's dismal human-rights record.
The North's state media, Korean Central News Agency, showed an interview on February 5 in which Mr Park apologised for his "misperception" of the reclusive country's human-rights conditions, which had been "influenced by the West's propaganda".
"I realised that [in North Korea] religious freedom is guaranteed - I felt ashamed. I sincerely apologise," he said.
The next day, he was released. He was flown from Pyongyang to Beijing, where he did not answer any questions from media and flew directly to the United States. Until last weekend, little was known of his whereabouts.
On Saturday, South Korean media outlets said Mr Park had been released from a mental hospital in California where he had sought treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety after claiming he had been sexually tortured in North Korea.
A close associate of Mr Park told The National that the activist was indeed a victim of severe physical and psychological abuse, including sexual torture. "Robert told me that a very cruel sexual torture was carried out on him. He said North Korea is a regime more brutal than the Nazis," said Jo Sung-rae, a lawyer who heads a North Korean human-rights advocacy group in Seoul.
"A few women entered the room where Robert was held in North Korea. They touched, groped him - and a very humiliating, indescribable thing happened," Mr Jo said. "North Korea knows human weakness so well."
Mr Park burst into tears while he was confiding this detail to him, Mr Jo said.
South Korean media outlets on Saturday headlined with Mr Park's sexual torture. Mr Jo said he decided to share this detail with The National - which Robert Park had not even shared with his parents - because he felt compelled to proactively respond to the situation "before people begin to think strange things about it".
After his release, Mr Park contemplated committing suicide, according to Mr Jo. "I told him that suicide and martyrdom are different. I told him his noble cause to become a martyr in North Korea was already fulfilled with his tremendous ordeal there."
Before his crossing into North Korea, Mr Park left a note in which he said he did not want the US government to intervene to rescue him because he was going there to become a martyr.
Some people link Mr Park's case to that of a similar case in 1996. A US evangelist, Evan Hunziker, swam to North Korea from China across the Yalu River, drunk and naked, and was detained for 90 days. He was released and returned to the United States, but committed suicide one month later in a hotel in Tacoma, Washington.
In North Korea, the 28-year-old Mr Park, from Tucson, Arizona, was also subjected to severe physical abuse, Mr Jo said. When he crossed the border in December, he was reported to have shouted, "I am an American citizen. I am bringing God's love." When he was accosted by North Korean border guards, he also proclaimed that Mr Kim should repent and resign, a statement perceived as defamatory by the guards and which led to beatings, according to Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, which cited a source from North Korea.
"Robert was severely beaten for three days. It took a month for him to be able to even barely move his body. During this time, he was fed through a hose," Mr Jo said.
Despite Mr Park's ordeal in North Korea, some remain critical of his act. A North Korean defector in South Korea, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mr Park was naive and "went to North Korea without knowing North Korea".
Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea expert at Korea University in Seoul, disagreed: "Park's act could be seen as courageous. Park also succeeded in raising awareness for human rights conditions in North Korea."
After news reports about Mr Park came out over the weekend, South Korean bloggers debated the effectiveness of his act. Some questioned why Mr Park himself has been keeping silent. He had been scheduled to hold a press conference on February 26 in the United States, but the event was cancelled.
Mr Park is reported to want to come back to Seoul again soon to engage in a North Korea human rights campaign, "but I think he needs good rest for the time being", Mr Jo said.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
Day 5, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day When Dilruwan Perera dismissed Yasir Shah to end Pakistan’s limp resistance, the Sri Lankans charged around the field with the fevered delirium of a side not used to winning. Trouble was, they had not. The delivery was deemed a no ball. Sri Lanka had a nervy wait, but it was merely a stay of execution for the beleaguered hosts.
Stat of the day – 5 Pakistan have lost all 10 wickets on the fifth day of a Test five times since the start of 2016. It is an alarming departure for a side who had apparently erased regular collapses from their resume. “The only thing I can say, it’s not a mitigating excuse at all, but that’s a young batting line up, obviously trying to find their way,” said Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach.
The verdict Test matches in the UAE are known for speeding up on the last two days, but this was extreme. The first two innings of this Test took 11 sessions to complete. The remaining two were done in less than four. The nature of Pakistan’s capitulation at the end showed just how difficult the transition is going to be in the post Misbah-ul-Haq era.
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TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The lowdown
Badla
Rating: 2.5/5
Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke
Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier
UAE results
Beat China by 16 runs
Lost to Thailand by 10 wickets
Beat Nepal by five runs
Beat Hong Kong by eight wickets
Beat Malaysia by 34 runs
Standings (P, W, l, NR, points)
1. Thailand 5 4 0 1 9
2. UAE 5 4 1 0 8
3. Nepal 5 2 1 2 6
4. Hong Kong 5 2 2 1 5
5. Malaysia 5 1 4 0 2
6. China 5 0 5 0 0
Final
Thailand v UAE, Monday, 7am
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
EXPATS
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The%20specs%3A%20Taycan%20Turbo%20GT
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Company profile
Name: Tratok Portal
Founded: 2017
Based: UAE
Sector: Travel & tourism
Size: 36 employees
Funding: Privately funded
On racial profiling at airports
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