 | ||
Born 1953 (age 63–64) South Korea Similar Otto Warmbier, Hyeon Soo Lim, Kenneth Bae, Matthew Todd Miller, Euna Lee | ||
Kim Dong Chul (born 1953, South Korea) is a South Korea-born businessman and alleged naturalized United States citizen held prisoner by the government of North Korea (DPRK) on charges of espionage. As of January 2016, Kim is one of only two US citizens held in North Korea, following the capture of Otto Frederick Warmbier. Canadian Hyeon Soo Lim is also held in the country. The three are thought to be the only Westerners held.
Once a resident of Fairfax, Virginia, Kim had been living in China with his wife, and owns a business in a special economic zone of the DPRK.
Kim's status was not publicly known until the DPRK introduced him to a CNN crew visiting Pyongyang. CNN was allowed to interview Kim but only through an interpreter. The US State Department has not confirmed the case.
A North Korean defector claimed to have met Kim in 2007 and learned that he was doing aid work in North Korea.
