[Vause:] Welcome back, everybody. It's been a slow start to the trading week in Asia. Let's check the numbers right now. As we can see, the Hong Kong Hang Seng down by almost 2 percent. Australia has closed low as well, down by almost 1.17 percent. The Shanghai Composite there at the top of your screen down by more than 3 percent. And the Shenzhen Composite down by more than 4 percent. So another bad day there for stocks on mainland China.
[Sesay:] Well, let's bring in Andrew Stevens who joins us now from Hong Kong with more perspective. Andrew, we took a look at the numbers there. They're not pretty at all, the Asian market. Analysts saying this is largely due to fears about China's financial stability.
[Andrew Stevens, Cnn Asia-pacific Editor:] Yes. I mean, it's more of the same really, Isha. What we're seeing today is a follow on from last week. Remember $1.1 trillion wiped off the value of Chinese stocks last year. And that misery continues for shareholders in the China markets today. Important to note that those shareholders are Chinese. There's very little international foreign money in the Chinese markets. So that doesn't help alleviate the pain for those who are in the markets. And it is a continuation on the fears and the concerns about the authorities, can they get a grip on what's going on, on trying to manipulate the market, which is what they're doing at the moment. Very unsuccessfully. And also what's going on in the currency, which continues to weaken the Chinese the last two days have tried to strength it. They have had minimal success in strengthening that currency. So the thinking is that there is a concern amongst the policy makers in Beijing, Isha, that the economy is weakening and they are weakening the yuan to try and export their way out of trouble. The question is, just how weak is the economy. It's very difficult to judge at this stage. But certainly if you look at the markets, there's no confidence of investors in buying at the moment. In fact, there was a quote from shanghai this morning saying there's absolutely no reason to be buying in this market, no reason for this market to be going up, at least in the short term, Isha.
[Sesay:] Pretty tense stuff. Andrew Stevens joining us there from Hong Kong. Andrew, appreciate it. Thank you.
[Vause:] South Korea's Defense Ministry says it is in talks with the U.S. to deploy additional strategic assets to the Korean peninsula. The talks come days after North Korea reported it successfully completed a test of a hydrogen bomb. North Korean officials say there's been an outpouring of enthusiasm in the country ever since Wednesday's test.
[Sesay:] But those claims have been met with skepticism abroad as well as a show of force in response. The U.S. coordinated with South Korea. The display of solidarity on Sunday, performing a flyover over the Peninsula.
[Vause:] We're also following another big story out of the North. Authorities there have given CNN access to two men detained in the reclusive country. One is a Canadian pastor and he is serving a life sentence of hard labor. North Korea claims the other is an American citizen charged with spying. CNN's Will Ripley live in Pyongyang this hour with the details. So, Will, what more do you know about this latest prisoner that the North Koreans say they have? Is it possible to confirm that he's an American?
[Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi, John. We have not confirmed with the U.S. State Department that Kim Jong-chol is an American citizen, although he did provide us with a U.S. Social Security number. And we will also allowed to photograph and examine his passport. And while I'm no passport expert, it looks exactly like my American passport. He even had a Chinese residency visa and multiple stamps from entering back and forth into China, which makes sense because he was while he is a U.S. citizen, he's been living in China as president of a company that actually operates inside North Korea in what's known as a special economic zone in the far northern part of the peninsula right by the border. These special economic zones are basically businesses owned by foreign enemies that employ North Korean workers. And they exist so that the regime can make extra money. And so for quite a while for many years now, Kim has been commuting back and forth. And it is during these trips that he has confessed and the North Korean government has accused him of collecting information about North Korea's nuclear program and their military and then passing that information to conservative elements within the South Korean government. He says he did it by recruiting and bribing an ex-North Korean soldier. Listen to him describe how it all works.
[Ripley:] How did it work? How did you pass on the information that you collected?
[Kim Dung Chul, Detained In North Korea:] I bribed a local resident and had him gather important materials, such as military secrets, nuclear-related materials. I got these materials hidden in my car and secretly brought them to China where I handed them over or I would go to South Korea and deliver them directly.
[Ripley:] And we have no way of knowing if Kim was speaking under any kind of duress. So we assume that our conversation was being monitored from another room in the hotel where we conducted the interview. South Korean authorities that we've been checking with call his claims groundless. And the U.S. State Department is refusing to comment or confirm if he is in fact a U.S. citizen John.
[Vause:] And what about this Canadian citizen who is also being detained by the North? He has been sentenced to life in prison. He also spoke with you. What has he been saying?
[Ripley:] Yes. This is Pastor Hyeon Soo Lim who has been detained here in North Korea for almost a year now. He was arrested in January of last year. He has made more than 100 trips to North Korea. But he was tending to a nursery a nursing home and an orphanage that his church based in Toronto had set up. And it was during that trip that North Koreans authorities arrested him. They accused him of using his religion to try to overthrow the regime here. Take a look. Thousands of miles from home, a world away from his old life, Canadian Pastor Hyeon Soo Lim lives under the constant watch of North Korean guards. No contact with his family or parishioners of his Toronto church. The 60-year-old works eight hours a day, six days a week, alone, digging holes in an orchard. At the labor camp where he's serving a life sentence, Lim is the only prisoner. The guards wait just outside. [On Camera] How are you feeling?
[Hyeon Soo Lim, Pastor & Canadian Held Prisoner By North Korean:] Fine.
[Ripley:] Are you OK? Are you in good health?
[Lim:] Yes.
[Ripley:] Lim speaks and understands English, but the authorities insist he answer our questions in Korean. We assume they're listening from another room in this Pyongyang hotel. "I wasn't originally a laborer, so the labor was hard at first," he says. "But now I've gotten used to it." Lim says he gets regular medical care, three males a day, humane treatment by a country the United Nations says has one of the worst human rights records in the world. Allegations North Korea strongly denies. At his trial in December, Pyongyang prosecutors argued Lim entered North Korea more than 100 times under the false pretense of humanitarian aid. They say he was really using religion to try and overthrow the atheist regime. Lim admits to openly criticizing North Korea's leaders, a severe crime in a country that forbids political dissent. "I admit that I violated this government's authority, system and order," he says. [On Camera] Would you say your biggest crime was speaking badly about the supreme leaders of this country? [Voice-over] "Yes, I think so." Kim says he has not been forced to study North Korean ideology. He's even requested a Bible, though he hasn't gotten it yet. He prays every day. [On Camera] What do you play about? [Voice-over] "I pray for the country and the people," he says. "I pray for North and South Korea to be unified so a situation like mine won't happen again." After about an hour, the guards return. It's time for this pastor- turned-prisoner to go back to a life of confinement. He never expected, but seems to accept. Lim waits and wonders if he'll ever see his family and parishioners again. He says no matter what happens, he's at peace.
[Ripley:] I've spoken twice with Lim's family. We actually had him record a private message that we e-mailed so that they could see him in his own words and see that he appears to be healthy and in good spirits. They were grateful to the North Korean regime for allowing the interview to happen. And they also urged the Canadian government to do whatever it can diplomatically to try to encourage the Pyongyang leadership here to release Lim on humanitarian grounds John, Isha.
[Vause:] Will, thank you. Will Ripley live in Pyongyang on your sixth trip to the reclusive country in the last year and a half. Thanks, Will.
[Sesay:] Some great reporting there from our Will Ripley.
[Vause:] Yes.
[Sesay:] The Mexican authorities want to question actor Sean Penn about his interview with Mexican drug lord El Chapo. We'll have details on the actress, Penn says helped arranged the meeting.