An urgent appeal has been made by the Voice of Martyrs (VOM) for a former North Korean army officer turned underground evangelist to halt his public execution.
Son Jong Nam, the former soldier turned evangelist is reported by VOM on Tuesday to be sentenced to death so he could be used as an example to the North Korean people.
Aiding VOM appeal to the world has been several U.S. senators including presidential candidate Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) who had requested U.S. Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to secure the release of Mr. Son.
Todd Nettleton, the director of media development for VOM, has called on everyone to pray for Mr. Son and write emails and letters to the North Korean delegation at the U.N. to ask for his release. Every letter and email will make a difference, he said.
"We are asking for prayers for Mr. Son, but also that people around the world take action on his behalf," said Mr. Nettleton. "Jesus said ministering to a prisoner was like ministering to Himself. Every letter and email can make a difference."
Some years ago Son complained to the North Korean Central People's Committee when his wife, while being investigated by the secret police, was kicked in the stomach and miscarried. He made plans to leave North Korea after being pressured to drop the matter.
Son defected to China in 1998 with his wife, son and brother. His wife died after arriving there. It was in China that he met a South Korean missionary and became a Christian. Mr. Son continued his religious studies and felt called to be an evangelist in North Korea.
But before he could return home, Son was arrested by Chinese police in 2001 and sent back to North Korea, charged with sending missionaries into his native country. He was imprisoned and brutally tortured for three years.
Son was released on parole in May 2004 and expelled from Pyongyang to Chongjin to work at a rocket research institute. However, his health was so bad when he was released that he was unable to walk. But after receiving medical treatment, he went back to China to meet with his brother.
Son was arrested again when he returned to North Korea in January 2006, and has remained in prison since. The last word of him came in February. It is suspected that because he is being kept in the capitol city, North Korean officials view him as a special case and perhaps are keeping him alive, if barely, for unknown reasons, quoted the VOM press release.