Add Category
Arturo Pierre Martinez a US citizen who said he crossed into North Korea illegally, denounced US policies during a press conference at the People’s Palace of Culture in Pyongyang. Picture: AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon Source: AP
NORTH Korea has put on display an American who had apparently entered the country illegally and who strongly denounced the US political and economic systems.
The man identified himself at a press conference in Pyongyang, released by the North’s KCNA news agency, as Arturo Pierre Martinez, aged 29 and from El Paso in Texas, CNN reported.
In the video footage of the conference he said had taken “a risky journey to reach the (North) so that I could pass along some very valuable and disturbing informationâ€.
He entered the North from China in November, according to a North Korean statement cited by the broadcaster, just two days after the US spy chief James Clapper arrived in Pyongyang to secure the release of two other detained Americans.
Martinez had earlier tried to swim across the Han river between the two Koreas to enter the North, only to be caught and sent back to the US where he was placed in a psychiatric hospital, his mother told CNN.
Arturo Pierre Martinez, who strongly denounced the US political and economic systemsrear centre, speaks at a press conference at the People’s Palace of Culture in Pyongyang, North Korea. Picture: AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin. Source: AP
“But he got out,†Patricia Eugenia Martinez said, adding her son was bipolar.
“He ... got the court to let him out and instead of coming home to us he bought a ticket and left for China,†she said.
At the press conference Martinez admitted the illegal entry but said he was “extremely grateful†for the North to have pardoned him and to have offered him “the most generous receptionâ€, according to CNN.
It released images of Martinez obtained from the North’s government, showing him wearing a suit and tie and delivering a statement.
The North aired the criticisms by Martinez of the US government at a time when Pyongyang is under growing international pressure to improve its human rights record.
Nice in the North ... Martinez admitted the illegal entry but said he was “extremely grateful†for the North to have pardoned him and to have offered him “the most generous receptionâ€. Picture: AFP PHOTO/KCNA. Source: AFP
The UN Security Council is expected to meet this month on the North’s rights record, following a proposal to refer it to the International Criminal Court on possible charges of crimes against humanity.
South Korean troops in September caught a US man trying to swim across the river border with the North but did not disclose his identity.
CNN said the legal status of Martinez in the North was unclear. It’s not known whether he would be able to leave the country, which has a history of detaining US citizens.