DPRK Frees Auto Worker

The North has released a South Korean prisoner held since March. Friom the AP:

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea freed a South Korean worker Thursday it had detained for months for allegedly denouncing its political system — an apparent goodwill gesture toward Seoul and Washington amid the standoff over the regime's nuclear weapons program.

Last week, the North released jailed American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling to former U.S. President Bill Clinton, helping ease months of tensions stoked by the country's recent atomic and long-range rocket tests.

On Thursday, Pyongyang deported Yoo Seong-jin, a 44-year-old technician who worked at a joint industrial park in the North, where about 110 South Korean-run factories employ about 40,000 North Korean workers.

Yoo has been held for allegedly denouncing the North's government and attempting to persuade a North Korean worker to defect.

"I'm happy that I returned safely," Yoo told reporters in a brief comment after arriving at a South Korean immigration control center near the border.

Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun has been in the North for the past few days, and she may have negotiated the release of Yoo, who is an employee for Hyundai's North Korean business arm, Hyundai Asan.

Full story here.