RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
North Korea announced today, that it is releasing an American who was arrested last November. Eddie Jun, a Korean American from California, an evangelist, was reported accused of spreading Christianity. That's a serious crime in North Korea. North Korea's central news agency said Jun was being released on humanitarian grounds.
The announcement comes after the U.S. envoy for North Korean human rights, Robert King, visited the country this week. Also, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, asked for Jun's pardon on a visit earlier this month. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.