Hyeon Soo Lim's church is 'ecstatic' at his release.
Canadian
Christians are celebrating the release of a pastor who had been held captive in
North Korea since 2015.
Rumours
began a few days ago that 62-year-old Hyeon Soo Lim was to be released and
confirmation appeared to come from North Korea's state news agency.
The
decision to release pastor Lim comes just hours after a high-level Canadian
delegation, led by the prime minister's national security adviser, had arrived
in the country in the hope of intervening in his case, as Christian Today
reported yesterday.
The
Globe and Mail reports that
pastor Lim's church – Light Korean Presbyterian church in Mississauga, Ontario –
was 'ecstatic' at the news of his release.
Canada's
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed
the news and said, 'The Government of Canada was actively engaged on Mr
Lim's case at all levels.'
His
statement continued, 'Pastor Lim's health and well-being remain of utmost
importance to the Government of Canada, and we are working to ensure that he
receives any required medical attention.' That was all he could reveal at the
moment,' Operational security considerations prevent us from discussing the
matter further,' the prime minister said.
The
seriousness of Pastor Lim's situation became even more clear after the death of
US student Otto Warmbier earlier this year, after his release from North Korean
imprisonment. Pastor Lim is reported to be in poor health.
President
Trump has dialled up the rhetoric against North Korea in recent days, saying he
would respond to North Korean aggression with, 'fire and fury and, frankly,
power the likes of which the world has never seen before'.
Pastor
Lim's church, which is around 3,000 strong, has supported various missions to
North Korea. He is of South Korean origin. He has made over 100 trips to the
North since 1997 and helps to run nursing home and orphanages there.
But
in February 2015, he was arrested and eventually found guilty of trying to
overthrow the regime of Kim Jong Un. He has been in captivity ever since, in
spite of poor health.
Raymond
Cho, a member of parliament who knows Pastor Lim said he
was relieved at his release. 'I believe in the power of prayer, he said, 'I
prayed for him every night, twice a night.'
Another
politician who had campaigned for his release, Senator Yonah Martin said, 'I had
a great sense of relief but it took me by surprise only because it had been so
long.' Christian Today.
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