Kim Sang-duk (; born c. 1959), also known as Tony Kim, is a

Korean-American Korean Americans () are Americans of full or partial Korean ethnic descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America () may refer to all ethnic Koreans residing in the United States, the specific designation of Korean American impli ...

professor who was detained in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

for 382 days. On May 9, 2018, it was reported that Kim was released from custody.

Life and detention

Before being detained, Kim taught accounting at the Business Administration School of

Yanbian University of Science and Technology The Yanbian University of Science and Technology (YUST; , ), is a research university in the city of Yanji, Jilin, China. YUST is the first Korean Chinese joint-venture university in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and first inter ...

(YUST) in the northeastern Chinese city of

Yanji Yanji (; Korean: ; alternately romanized as Yenki or Yenji) is a county-level city in the east of China's Jilin Province, and is the seat of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Yanji City is located in the eastern part of Jilin Province. ...

, near the

China–North Korea border The China–North Korea border is an Border, international border separating China and North Korea, extending from Korea Bay in the west to a China–North Korea–Russia tripoint, tripoint with Russia in the east. The total length of the borde ...

. According to

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

Korea reports, he was a regional director in charge of transporting foreign aid materials to several areas affected by the 2016 floods in North Korea, and his humanitarian work has gone on for more than 10 years. On April 22, 2017, Kim and his wife were detained, and Kim was subsequently arrested at Sunan International Airport in

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

as he was waiting to board a flight. In May 2017, Kim was allegedly accused of "committing criminal acts of hostility aimed to overturn orth Korea" Kim was one of three Americans who were released from detention in North Korea in May 2018 in advance of a U.S.-North Korea summit. The others are Kim Dong-chul and Kim Hak-song. At the time of his arrest, Kim had completed a one-month assignment as a guest lecturer in

international finance International finance (also referred to as international monetary economics or international macroeconomics) is the branch of monetary economics, monetary and macroeconomics, macroeconomic interrelations between two or more countries. Internation ...

and management at the

Pyongyang University of Science and Technology Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) is North Korea's first privately funded university. It is founded, operated, and partly funded by associations and people outside the country. PUST was jointly planned and constructed by forc ...

(PUST), a YUST sister institution, according to the chancellor of PUST, Park Chan-mo. North Korean authorities did not immediately announce the reason for Kim's arrest. He had not been returned to the United States when the Olympic Games occurred in

Pyeongchang, South Korea Pyeongchang ( , ; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...

during 2018, although a spokesperson for the United States State Department informed the news media: "We are working to see U.S. citizens who are detained in North Korea come home as soon as possible."

Release

On May 9, 2018, several news outlets reported that Kim and fellow American detainees Kim Dong-chul and Kim Hak-song had been granted amnesty following a meeting between

Supreme Leader A supreme leader or supreme ruler typically refers to powerful figures with an unchallenged authority, such as autocrats, dictators to spiritual and revolutionary leaders. Historic examples are Adolf Hitler () of Nazi Germany, Francisco ...

Kim Jong Un Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim ...

and

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American retired politician who served in the First presidency of Donald Trump#Administration, first administration of Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) fr ...

to discuss details of the planned summit between Kim and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. Kim Sang-duk's 'family expressed gratitude and credited Trump for engaging directly with North Korea' upon learning of his release. The three men, alongside Pompeo, landed at

Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force (USAF). In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form ...

shortly before 3 am eastern on May 10, thereby concluding a 17-month struggle by the United States to secure their release.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Sang-duk Living people American people of Korean descent American people imprisoned in North Korea 1959 births

Life and detention

Release

See also

References