May 5, 2015 8:49 AM EDT
New York University student Won-moon Joo said in a new interview that getting arrested in North Korea was part of his plan to slip into the country and stage a “great event” that could lead to reconciliation between the North and the South.
“I wanted to be arrested,” the 21-year-old American resident told CNN in the presence of government minders. “I hope that I will be able to tell the world how an ordinary college student entered [North Korea] illegally but however with the generous treatment of [North Korea] that I will be able to return home safely.”
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