North Korea has released and deported a detained Australian missionary after he publicly apologized for his "criminal acts."
John Alexander Short arrived in Beijing Monday and was picked up by an official from the Australian embassy.
Short had been arrested last month and accused of breaking the law by distributing bible leaflets at a Buddhist temple in Pyongyang on February 16, the birthday of the North's former leader, Kim Jong Il.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency printed a confession by the 75-year-old missionary in which he admitted wrongdoing and requested forgiveness.
John Alexander Short arrived in Beijing Monday and was picked up by an official from the Australian embassy.
Short had been arrested last month and accused of breaking the law by distributing bible leaflets at a Buddhist temple in Pyongyang on February 16, the birthday of the North's former leader, Kim Jong Il.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency printed a confession by the 75-year-old missionary in which he admitted wrongdoing and requested forgiveness.