Behind bars in North Korea: Pastor Lim's long, dark night of the soul | NK News
NK News Logo
September 26, 2026Sep 26, 2026

Weapon Directory

Evergreen

Behind bars in North Korea: Pastor Lim’s long, dark night of the soul

Former detainee talks imprisonment in the DPRK - and his unexpected release in August

Lim Hyeon-soo doesn’t come off as the type of person that would try to overthrow Kim Jong Un. Yet, that’s exactly what North Korea charged the 62-year-old pastor with trying to do.

Lim, a South Korean-born Canadian citizen who vanished on a routine trip to the DPRK in 2015, spent more than two-and-a-half years locked up in North Korea, becoming the country’s longest-held western prisoner since the Korean War.

Now enjoying his fourth month back home in the Toronto suburbs, Lim recently sat down at his church for a two-hour interview with NK News, sharing new details about his ordeal,