by STEVE HAN
Amid the rising tension between the two Koreas, Rev. Jesse Jackson is reminding those caught up in the political tug-of-war to not forget Kenneth Bae, who has been detained in North Korea for 18 months and has serious health issues.
In his column for the Huffington Post, Jackson wrote, “Rather than mediation, there is mutual agitation and antagonism … The Korean peninsula remains the only part of the world still divided as a result of post WWII agreements.”
Jackson, who created the “Rainbow Coalition” of minority groups which includes Asian Americans, is best known for being the progressive voice for racial minorities. He stressed that Americans should continue to fight for the release of Korean American missionary Kenneth Bae, who was arrested in North Korea almost two years ago for allegedly trying to overthrow its totalitarian government after entering the country as a tourist.
The 72-year-old continued in his column: “In the meantime, an ill man languishes in a North Korean prison … Kenneth Bae has been in prison for 18 months with poor health and in need of medical attention.”
Last year, Bae was placed in a hospital due to deteriorating health, but North Korean authorities put him back in a hard labor prison camp this past January. North Korea has continuously rejected demands from the U.S. government and Bae’s family to free him, even though officials recently released a 75-year-old Australian missionary, John Short, who was arrested in March.
“It is difficult to travel into North Korea and many people are unable to visit whenever they wish,” Jackson wrote. “In addition to limited access, North Korea does not welcome journalists as freely as other countries and as a result it has become a challenge for the rest of the world to follow the shifting rules and regulations within the region.”
Bae’s son, Jonathan Bae, has started a petition to free his father from North Korea. There is also a Facebook page asking for his release.
“When the lights go off, people suffer in silence. This is a when evil grows … We need to remember that Kenneth Bae’s life is precious and important. His health is precarious and we must seek his release on humanitarian grounds. When one Asian American family hurts, we all hurt.”
