U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be arriving in Asia to talk about approaches on resolving the conflict in the Korean Peninsula. (Photo : Getty Images)
In an attempt to get North Korean defectors out of China, two Christian pastors from South Korea were arrested by Chinese authorities recently.
This is the latest arrest following many detentions and deportation of South Korean Christian pastors in the past months.
There are many South Korean pastors who were deported from the Jilin Province, the border of China and South Korea.
One of the pastors and his wife were arrested before boarding a flight to South Korea. The other pastor and his wife were arrested in a hotel.
The wives have been released from police custody.
Apart from the arrests, missionary houses are also being raided because the authorities claim that the visas of missionary workers have expired.
As tensions escalate in the Korean Peninsula, many people from Pyongyang are trying to get out of the country. The recent deployment of THAAD missiles from the U.S. is escalating the conflict.
Rex Tillerson, White House Secretary of State, will be making a tour around Asia to see how U.S. interference will help resolve issues.
Robert Dujarric, the director of the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University's campus in Tokyo, said that Tillerson's visit is to strengthen cooperation between Japan, South Korea and the U.S.
He said, "The U.S. allies, Japan and South Korea, want to know that the United States is going to continue to defend them but also is going to show a certain amount of finesse and diplomatic skills in dealing with China and with North Korea."
The White House official will also visit Beijing, but an official from the American government said that Tillerson will not heed the call to stop THAAD deployment.
He said, "THAAD is non-negotiable. This is one of those things where Beijing is just going to have to adapt to or live in a perpetual cycle of outrage."
