Beginning with this issue, a new corner is being opened called “World Topic.” World Topic is the corner that talks about global issues. In this issue, we will tell about the two women reporters who came back from North Korea.
On the 14th of August, two women reporters were freed who had been detained for about 140 days. They were arrested on March 17 because they crossed the North Korean border for 30 seconds. In this situation, North Korea’s opinion was, “If the United States (U.S.) dispatches a person who has a high position, we will set the two reporters free. In response, the U.S. dispatched Bill Clinton, a former president, and he solved the problem politically.
On the 13th of August, a staff member of Hyundai Asan, Yoo Seong-jin, was freed after being detained for about 130 days. Mr. Yoo was arrested last March because he criticized North Korea. Mr. Yoo was freed because the chairman of Hyundai company, Hyun Jeong-eun, visited North Korea to have a meeting about Geumgang mountain and also to talk about Mr. Yoo’s release.
However, some problems are still unsolved. Some Koreans are still detained in North Korea. There are so many problems in GPS, and many South Korean fishing boats cross North Korean waters and many North Korean fishing boats cross South Korean waters, but they come back in a few days. However, on the 30th of July, a fishing boat which carried four people entered North Korean waters and was detained. At first, Korea tried to settle the problem nationally. However the problem continued and the media didn’t write about it. Their families still don’t know where they are exactly. However, Mr. Yoo’s release has given more media exposure to this unsolved problem.
The Korean government is reacting to the problem very slowly. The problem with the two women reporters was solved by the U.S. government politically, but the problem with Mr. Yoo was solved by Hyundai individually.