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N Korea holds Canadian for two months

A Canadian businessman providing dental aid to North Koreans has been detained for more than two months, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Kim Je-yell, a Korean-born Canadian in his 50s, was detained in the remote northeast of the country on Nov. 3, the Toronto Star reported on its Web site, citing Kim's family and aid groups.

The news had not been announced earlier pending diplomat efforts to have him freed, it said. It cited the humanitarian group he worked for, Christian Aid, as saying he was held on charges related to "national security."

Foreign Affairs Canada did not comment on Kim's detention, but ministry spokesman Rodney Moore said that Ambassador to South Korea Ted Lipman was on a "routine, previously scheduled trip" to the North until today.

"Ambassador Lipman is there to discuss a range of issues, including denuclearization, inter-Korean relations, multilateral humanitarian assistance and human rights with North Korean officials," Moore said.

Kim lives in Edmonton. He had been bringing dental supplies and setting up clinics in North Korea for nearly a decade, the report said.
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