Free Republic

Now that Robert Park is in the winter of his life and James Van Allen is dead, an unlikely person named Charles Seife, not a scientist but rather a professor of journalism, has taken up the banner of the jihad to destroy NASA's human spaceflight program. In an article in Slate and a later post on his personal blog, Professor Seife compared the space agency to a Panda, cute but in danger of extinction. The reason, he suggests, NASA's "fixation" on human space flight. Like Van Allen, Park, and a slew of politicians before him, Seife would see NASA's human...

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said on Friday it will release U.S. religious activist Robert Park, arrested in December for illegally entering the country in a journey to raise awareness about Pyongyang's human rights abuses. "The relevant organ of the DPRK (North Korea) decided to leniently forgive and release him, taking his admission and sincere repentance of his wrong doings into consideration," the state KCNA news agency said.

The Desperate Move Is Necessary? By Chris Green [2010-01-01 18:56 ] Before Robert Park entered North Korea this Christmas Day he was in Seoul, working as an energetic activist in the North Korean human rights field. Just a few days before he left for China en route for the North, Robert gave an interview to Reuters on the proviso that it not be released until after he crossed the Tumen River. Now Robert is inside North Korea, and Reuters released the full text of the interview on December 30th. In the interview Robert speaks in damning terms of those he...

The pastor of the Tucson church that missionary Robert Park attended says he wouldn't be surprised if Park, believed to be detained in communist North Korea, gets an audience with the country's leader, Kim Jong Il. "I hope and pray that he does get an audience. I know it sounds pretty crazy, but isn't this whole thing crazy?" said the Rev. John A. Benson, pastor of Life in Christ Community Church on Tucson's south side. The church is part of the Southern Baptist Convention. "It's a little out there — beyond what we would think. So yes, I'm asking for...

Calif parents of US missionary believed detained in North Korea join vigil for safe return ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press Writer 1:51 AM PST, December 28, 2009 SAN MARCOS, Calif. (AP) — An American missionary believed to be detained when he stepped into North Korea on Christmas didn't inform his parents of his plans but they had a hunch he would visit the communist nation. "We had a sense," Pyong Park, the missionary's father, told The Associated Press late Sunday. "We told him to continue what you're doing in South Korea." About 100 people held candles Sunday night at Palomar Korean...

SEOUL, South Korea — An American Christian missionary slipped into isolated North Korea on Christmas Day, shouting that he brought God's love and carrying a letter urging leader Kim Jong Il to step down and free all political prisoners, an activist said Saturday. Robert Park, 28, crossed a poorly guarded stretch of the frozen Tumen River that separates North Korea from China, according to a member of the Seoul-based group Pax Koreana, which promotes human rights in the North. Two other activists apparently watched and filmed the entry. "I am an American citizen. I brought God's love. God loves you...

A U.S. human rights activist trying to raise global attention about the suffering of the North Korean people has crossed into the reclusive state, other activists and South Korean media said on Saturday. Park told to Reuters in Seoul earlier this week that he saw it as his duty as a Christian to make the journey and did not want the U.S. government to try to free him. "I don't want President Obama to come and pay to get me out. But I want the North Korean people to be free," Park said on Wednesday before departing for China. "Until...

U.S. rights activist crosses into North Korea - reports Jon Herskovitz, Reuters December 26, 2009, 4:00 pm Send SEOUL (Reuters) - A U.S. human rights activist trying to raise global attention about the suffering of the North Korean people has crossed into the reclusive state, other activists and South Korean media said on Saturday. There has been no comment from North Korea, which usually arrests foreign border crossers on site, or from U.S. officials. Activists told Reuters that Robert Park, 28, had crossed into North Korea from China on Friday, while South Korea's Yonhap news agency and the Kukmin Ilbo...

President Bush (news - web sites)'s plan to return humans to the Moon as a stepping stone to Mars was applauded today by many scientists eager to unlock the geological and biological secrets of the red planet. Some scientists said federal money would be better spent on robotic exploration. Many others are concerned how an planned shift of existing NASA (news - web sites) funds might impact non-human space exploration, including the fate of the Hubble Space Telescope (news - web sites). At a press conference at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. this afternoon, Bush called for robotic lunar missions...