Kim Jong-Un grants rare North Korean citizenship to American
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sept. 8, 2012: Park Sang-Kwon, right, CEO of Pyeonghwa Motors, is pictured in North Korea with Hyung Jin Moon, the successor to Sun Myung Moon, the deceased founder of the Unification Church. (AFP)
The U.S. head of a joint venture by North Korea and the Unification Church of South Korea has reportedly been granted rare honorary citizenship by Pyongyang in an effort to encourage new investment.
Agence France Presse reports that Park Sang-Kwon, CEO of Pyeonghwa Motors, told South Korea's Yonhap news agency that he received the citizenship in Pyongyang last month.
"This means that North Korea has acknowledged the trust they had put in me,” Park said. “They were also encouraging me to start new projects in the North, more freely and aggressively.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Park is just the second person to be awarded honorary citizenship and the first since Kim Jong-Un took over as North Korea's leader in December 2011, according to Yonhap. The other is Kim Chin-Kyung, an American citizen who is president of Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.
"This is to certify that comrade Park Sang-Kwon, who has made outstanding contributions to the nation's prosperity, is an honorary citizen of Pyongyang,” read an identification card held by Park.