SEOUL, South Korea : South Korea said Monday North Korea will release a detained South Korean student from New York University.
Won Moon Joo, 21, who has permanent resident status in the United States, was arrested in April for allegedly entering North Korea illegally across the Chinese border.
Seoul's Unification Ministry said in a statement North Korea has told South Korea that it will repatriate Joo through the border village of Panmunjom on Monday.
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Last month, Joo was presented to the media in Pyongyang and said he had not been able to contact his family but wanted them to know he was healthy. For most of the 30-minute appearance, Joo read a prepared — and probably coached — speech full of praise for the country, its government and people.
Other foreigners who have been detained in the North have said after their release that they were coerced or coached closely on what to say in such statements.
South Korea says North Korea is holding three other South Korean nationals and has urged Pyongyang to return them.
The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
