N. Korea Charges American With Spying

U.S. officials have been told that North Korea filed formal charges Sunday against an American whom the Communist country says it arrested more than six weeks ago for allegedly spying on behalf of its neighboring nemesis, South Korea.

North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency announced over the weekend that Evan Carl Hunzike was taken into custody by North Korean security agents Aug. 24 after he illegally entered the country. Hunzike gained access from China by crossing the Yalu River, which flows along the border between the two nations, the agency said.

A Clinton administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the U.S. government was notified a week ago that North Korea planned to prosecute Hunzike on espionage charges, which carry a possible death penalty. “It’s our understanding that charges have been filed,” the official said.

The United States is relying on Sweden for assistance in the thorny matter since that country’s charge d’affaires in Pyongyang, the capital, represents U.S. interests in the North. The United States has not had formal diplomatic ties with North Korea since it became a Communist state nearly half a century ago.

Swedish diplomats have been able to visit Hunzike on two occasions since he was apprehended. The meetings, which are part of international protocols, took place Sept. 16 and 17 at the Amrokgang Hotel in the town of Sinuiju, near the mouth of the Yalu River in the Korea Bay. The Swedes have told U.S. officials they may get a chance to see him again as early as today.

“Our understanding is that he is being treated properly,” said White House spokeswoman April Mellody. “The U.S. government is working hard to find out more details on why he was there and what his intentions were.”

An administration official said Sunday, “We know of no affiliation with any intelligence agencies at this point.”

The South Korean spy office, the Agency for National Security Planning, denied any involvement in this case of alleged espionage. An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, “Such a fabricated claim is not even worth commenting on.”

Another administration source said the State Department had confirmed that Hunzike is a U.S. citizen. The official said that Hunzike is the son of a South Korean mother and an American father but that, as of late Sunday, little else was known about him.

The North Korean news agency’s announcement about Hunzike’s arrest did not mention why it took so long for the government there to make it public and did not provide details about Hunzike, except to say he was an operative for South Korean intelligence.

His arrest comes during a period of heightened tensions on the peninsula. Last month, South Korea launched a bloody hunt for spies after a North Korean submarine was stranded on its shores.