South Korean held in Russia for spying did humanitarian, mission work, says aid group

A South Korean missionary who has been arrested by Russia on spying charges was sent to do purely humanitarian and mission work and had no involvement in helping North Korean workers in the area to defect, the head of his Christian aid group said. Reverend Lee Sun-gu, who leads the Love Rice Sharing Foundation based in the South Korean city of Incheon, also said the allegation of espionage against his missionary colleague was "totally absurd" and "completely untrue". "He was a conscientious and deeply religious person" who was "appointed by the group to help migrant labourers, the poor and people in hardship," Lee told Reuters.