SEOUL (Reuters) - A U.S. religious activist taken captive by North Korea in December has been released and arrived in China on Saturday, South Korean media reported.
Robert Park's release clears an obstacle between North Korea and the United States as pressure mounts on the reclusive communist state to end its year-long boycott of international nuclear disarmament talks.
Park arrived in Beijing on a flight from North Korea in the morning and will later be taken to the U.S. embassy, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported from Beijing citing unnamed sources.
North Korea said on Friday it would release Park, who was arrested on Christmas Day for illegally entering the country in a journey he said was aimed at raising awareness about Pyongyang's human rights abuses.
He told Reuters in Seoul ahead of the crossing it was his duty as a Christian to make the trip and that he was carrying a letter calling on North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to release those he holds in brutal political camps and to step down.
The North's official KCNA news agency said Park had confessed to illegally entering the state and that he had changed his mind about North Korea after receiving kind treatment there.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz and Kim Yeon-hee; Editing by Nick Macfie)
