OTTAWA: A Toronto pastor has gone missing after travelling to North Korea on a humanitarian aid mission on behalf of his church, a Canadian newspaper said.
Reverend Hyeon Soo Lim, 60, entered North Korea via China on January 31 and has not been heard from since, said the daily Toronto Star, citing a spokeswoman for his congregation.
Lisa Pak of the Light Korean Presbyterian Church told the newspaper Lim has been to the secretive country many times. Lim helps oversee a nursery, an orphanage and a nursing home in the country.
“Every now and then (there has been) a delay here or there but never to this extent,” Pak said.
The Canadian government was not immediately available to confirm the disappearance.
But Lim’s friend and Toronto city councillor, Raymond Cho, told the Star he fears Lim may have been detained by North Korea’s Communist authorities.
Ottawa advises its citizens against travel to North Korea. -AFP