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American gets 6 years of hard labor for ‘hostile acts’ in N. Korea
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NORTH Korea sentenced United States citizen Matthew Todd Miller to six years’ hard labor for committing “hostile acts” as a tourist to the country, a statement carried by state media said yesterday.
Miller joins Kenneth Bae to become the second American currently serving a hard labor sentence in North Korea. A third, Jeffrey Fowle, is awaiting trial.
“He committed acts hostile to the DPRK while entering the territory of the DPRK under the guise of a tourist last April,” the short statement said, without elaborating. The Korean version of the statement described Miller’s punishment as a “labor reeducation” sentence.
Miller, from Bakersfield, California, and in his mid-20s, entered North Korea in April this year whereupon he tore up his tourist visa and demanded Pyongyang grant him asylum, according to a release from state media at the time. He was traveling on a private trip without foreign guides, according to Uri Tours, the company that organized his trip.
North Korea has not elaborated on Miller’s charges, but photos of the trial released by state media showed some of Miller’s personal possessions, including his passport, phone, notebook and North Korean visa — which appeared to be ripped. Miller was also shown sitting in a witness box, flanked by North Korean soldiers.
North Korea has yet to announce a trial date for Fowle, 56, from Miamisburg, Ohio, who was arrested in May this year for leaving a bible under a bin in the toilet of a sailor’s club in the eastern port city of Chongjin.
US missionary Bae has been held by the country since December 2012 and is currently serving a sentence of 15 years hard labor for crimes North Korea said amounted to a plot to overthrow the state.
Earlier this month, international media was granted rare access to the three detained Americans, who in separate interviews all called on the US to secure their early release.
The US State Department has repeatedly called on North Korea to release Miller, Bae and Fowle. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel, the senior US diplomat for East Asia, said last Friday that the three Americans were being used as “pawns” and their detention was “objectionable.”
Pyongyang has in the past released detained US citizens to delegations led by ex-presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, but North Korea has twice canceled visits by Robert King, the US special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, to discuss Kenneth Bae’s case.
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