On Sunday, North Korea claimed it had detained another American citizen, adding fuel to the fire of a testy relationship between an increasingly erratic Kim Jong Un regime and firmly resolute Trump White House. To date, three U.S. citizens have been detained by the hermit kingdom; this will make it four.
North Korea made the announcement on state-media, alleging that Kim Hak Song, an employee at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, has committed “hostile acts” against the country. The American academic was reportedly detained on Saturday.
“The relevant authority is currently carrying out a detailed investigation into the crime of Kim Hak Song,” reported Korean Central News Agency, the regime’s de facto propaganda arm.
State-media failed to provide any further details about Kim’s alleged offense.
“Sunday’s claim of detainment follows the April 22 arrest of Kim Sang Dok, a former accounting instructor at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology,” reports the Los Angeles Times, citing KCNA announcements. “The Pyongyang university is the only privately funded university in North Korea and is unique for having a large number of foreign staff.”
Doubling-down on hostile acts against the United States, North Korea appears to be working overtime to defy the Trump administration’s new hardline stance against Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.
Recently, President Trump ordered the USS Carl Vinson navy strike group to the Korean Peninsula in a show of force against the North Korean regime.
Since then, the Kim Jong Un regime attempted to conduct a missile test. It failed miserably.