Pastor Hyeon Soo Lim was freed this month after more than two years of imprisonment in North Korea. He reportedly said that he never hated North Korea despite what he went through, instead he said, he forgave them, love them and considered it as a discipline from God.
In an interview with CBC on August 27, Pastor Hyeon Soo Lim was asked if he felt angry towards North Korea. However, surprisingly, he said he never felt that way.
"I thanked North Korea. I forgive them, and I love them. And I believe this was a discipline from God as I learned so much through this experience," Lim said, adding that the experience changed him and made him realized how much he is a sinner in front of God.
The pastor was also asked what the reason behind his release was, but he shared that he did not know about it. He just said that he thinks that being Canadian helped him being released.
"If I'm just Korean, maybe they will kill me because my crime is too big (of a) crime in North Korea. But I'm Canadian, so they cannot... because they cannot kill the foreigners," he said.
To recall, the Toronto-area pastor was arrested in North Korea during a humanitarian mission in 2015.
The pastor also shared what will be his plans after being away from his family and friends.
"I want to have vacation with my family for one month. And then I come to church. I want to concentrate on the mission work.... A lot of the vision God gave to me when I'm in jail for 2.5 years.... Bible study and disciple training," he said. "A lot of North Koreans escaped from North Korea, so they're scattered all over the world now, even in Canada. I want to help them. We have the prayer meetings; there's a big prayer movement in Canada and South Korea. A lot of things that I'm planning."
