RantCrush Top 5: April 24, 2017

Over the weekend, a Korean-American man in his fifties was detained and arrested in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang, according to the Swedish embassy. As the U.S. doesn’t have an embassy in North Korea, the Swedish embassy is looking after U.S. consular affairs in this case. Tony Kim, who also goes by his Korean name Kim Sang-duk, was in North Korea to teach accounting at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology for a month. He was stopped by authorities at the airport when he was about to leave the country. Kim is the third American held in the country in recent years. Last year, 21-year old Otto Warmbier, a student from Cincinnati, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in a prison camp for taking a propaganda banner from a hotel. Another man, who is South Korean but is believed to have U.S. citizenship as well, Kim Dong Chul, is serving a 10-year-sentence for espionage. It is not clear what Tony Kim is accused of.

“Kim taught accounting at the university for about a month. He said Kim was detained by officials as he was trying to leave the country” https://t.co/MEtdlFlcAd

— Gayle Tzemach Lemmon (@gaylelemmon) April 23, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.