John Short

John Alexander Short (, born 26 January 1939 in Barmera) is a Hong Kong-based Australian Christian missionary noted for his 2014 arrest in North Korea and subsequent release 15 days later. Early life and education Short was born to working class Anglican parents in Barmera, South Australia. As a child, he attended Sunday School at church. He attended the Adelaide Boys High School and graduated from the Royal Adelaide Dental Hospital as a dental technician. In 1962, he joined the staff of the Adelaide YMCA and worked there until his departure in 1964. Work in Hong Kong In 1964, Short moved to Hong Kong to do missionary work. He initially catered to Chinese refugees from the mainland while studying the Cantonese language in his free time. He later set up several churches in Hong Kong in the 1970s. In 1976, while on a return visit to Australia, he met his future wife, Karen, whom he married in 1978. They had three sons, all of whom grew up in Hong Kong but now live outside Hong Kong.