Hyeon Soo Lim is free.After two and a half years of detention in North Korea, Lim — the senior pastor at the Light Presbyterian Church in Mississauga — is heading home Thursday.The 62-year-old was expected to fly on a Canadian government charter directly from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang to Ottawa, where he will reunite with his family. The Lims — who have not seen each other in person since the pastor’s detention in 2015 — will then travel to Toronto, where the family has a west-end home.Sen. Yonah Martin, deputy leader of the Conservatives in the Senate, is a friend of Lim’s. She described her reaction to the Toronto man’s imminent release as “relief and disbelief — with a lot of anxiousness mixed in.” “I had a great sense of relief but it took me by surprise only because it had been so long,” she said of Lim’s detention — more than 900 days.“This is long-awaited.”On Monday, a high-ranking Canadian government delegation quietly flew to Pyongyang to discuss Lim’s release. The group, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national security adviser, Daniel Jean, secured Lim’s freedom and by Wednesday, preparations for departure were underway.The news was first reported by North Korea’s state media as a “sick bail” decision by the country’s Central Court, granted on humanitarian grounds.“Rim Hyon Su, a Canadian civilian, was released on sick bail according to the decision of the Central Court of the DPRK on Aug. 9, 2017 from the humanitarian viewpoint,” the Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday, using the country’s official name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.“He (Lim) had been under the penalty of indefinite hard labour as he conducted hostile deeds against the DPRK,” the news agency continued.The Prime Minister’s Office had no comm ...
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