**US activist Robert Park has been freed from detention in North Korea, according to reports from South Korea.**Yonhap news agency said Mr Park had left the North and had arrived in Beijing, China. One report said he was heading towards the US embassy.
Mr Park, a religious activist, crossed into North Korea from China by walking across a frozen river in December.
North Korean authorities said on Thursday they had decided to “forgive and release” Mr Park.
Mr Park, who had reportedly wanted to highlight human rights issues in North Korea, was said to have admitted his mistake.
A US official in China refused to immediately confirm Mr Park’s arrival in the Chinese capital, saying he was a “private citizen”.
Mr Park, a US citizen of Korean ancestry from Tucson, Arizon, entered North Korea on foot, walking across the frozen Tumen River on Christmas Day, 25 December, last year.
According to his associates, 28-year-old Mr Park claimed he had seen a vision from God of North Korea’s liberation and redemption.
On Friday Mr Park was reported to have confessed that he crossed the border because his view of North Korea was based on false Western propaganda.
He now fully realised that religious freedom is fully ensured in North Korea, the country’s main news agency reported.
The statement has been dismissed as “propaganda” by Mr Park’s colleagues.