David Platt and Kevin DeYoung are asking people to pray and contact Congress over the imprisonment of an American pastor in North Korea.
In a video from earlier in February, Sol Kim, the son of the pastor imprisoned, asks for help releasing his father, Kim SangDuck, otherwise known as Tony Kim.
“Just miles from where the Olympics are being held, this son’s dad is detained in #NorthKorea. Please listen to this video, pray, spread the word, and contact Congress regarding his release,” Platt, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board, wrote in a tweet last week.
DeYoung, senior pastor at Christ Covenant Church in Matthew, North Carolina, also linked to the video, saying: “Worth two minutes to watch and pray.”
North Korean officials in Pyongyang arrested Tony Kim in April 2017.
Sol Kim says in the campaign group Free USA 3 video that his father had just finished a semester as a professor in North Korea before he was arrested at the airport.
“No explanation was given. My family and I have had no contact with him since. He has not been charged with any crime, and we don’t know what is happening to him,” Sol Kim said.
U.S. State Department officials reported that they saw Tony Kim alive about seven months ago when officials visited North Korea to bring Otto Warmbier back to the U.S. Warmbier, a University of Virginia student, was imprisoned in North Korea for more than a year. He was in a coma upon release and died about a week later.
“My mom, my brother and I miss our dad so much. We’re so worried about him and his health. I do want to say thank you to my friends and family who have supported us over these past nine months. These are hard days for our family,” Sol Kim said.
According to the Free USA 3, two other Americans are also imprisoned with Tony Kim in North Korea. American businessman Kim Dong Chul, 64, was arrested in October 2015 and accused of trying to “overthrow the socialist system. Kim Hakson was arrested in May 2017 and charged with committing “hostile acts” against the government.
Photo courtesy: ©Thinkstock/alexkuehni
Publication date: February 14, 2018
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