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American home from North

Published: 08 Feb. 2010, 01:20

American missionary Robert Park, left, is escorted by U.S. officials upon his arrival at the Beijing Capital Airport on Saturday. His arrival in Beijing came a day after North Korea announced it would free him. [AP]

An American missionary who strode illegally into North Korea on Christmas Day and was detained there for 43 days was welcomed back to the United States on Saturday evening in an emotional reunion with family members at the Los Angeles International Airport.

Robert Park was greeted by his parents and brother in a private location at the airport after arriving on a commercial flight from Beijing. Earlier Saturday, the 28-year-old Korean-American from Tucson, Arizona, flew to the Chinese capital from Pyongyang. The family stopped briefly for reporters as they left the airport in their car. A thin and pale Park said nothing and kept his eyes downcast while his brother, Paul Park, told reporters that his brother was in good condition.

Robert Park crossed the frozen Tumen River from China into North Korea on Dec. 25, carrying letters calling on leader Kim Jong-il to close the country’s notoriously brutal prison camps and step down from power - acts that could have brought execution in the hard-line communist country.

AP