NK gives US citizen 15 years of hard labor
Source: Agencies |
May 3, 2013, Friday
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NORTH Korea sentenced United States citizen Kenneth Bae to 15 years' hard labor yesterday for what it said were crimes against the state, a move that will likely see him used as a bargaining chip in talks with Washington.
Bae, 44, was born in South Korea but is a naturalized American citizen. A Washington state man described by friends as a devout Christian and a tour operator, Bae is at least the sixth American detained in North Korea since 2009. The others eventually were deported or released without serving out their terms, some after trips to Pyongyang by prominent Americans, including former US presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
In Washington, the US State Department said it was working with the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang to confirm the report of Bae's sentencing. The US lacks formal diplomatic ties with North Korea and relies on Sweden for diplomatic matters involving US citizens there.
Bae's trial on charges of "committing hostile acts" against North Korea took place in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported. KCNA referred to Bae as Pae Jun Ho, the North Korean spelling for his Korean name.
Bae was arrested in early November in Rason, a special economic zone in North Korea's far northeastern region bordering China and Russia, state media said. The exact nature of Bae's alleged crimes has not been revealed.
Friends and colleagues say Bae was based in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, and traveled frequently to North Korea to feed orphans.
There are parallels to a case in 2009. After Pyongyang's launch of a long-range rocket and its second underground nuclear test that year, two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor after sneaking across the border from China. They later were pardoned on humanitarian grounds and released to Clinton, who met with then-leader Kim Jong Il. US-North Korea talks came later that year.
Bae, 44, was born in South Korea but is a naturalized American citizen. A Washington state man described by friends as a devout Christian and a tour operator, Bae is at least the sixth American detained in North Korea since 2009. The others eventually were deported or released without serving out their terms, some after trips to Pyongyang by prominent Americans, including former US presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
In Washington, the US State Department said it was working with the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang to confirm the report of Bae's sentencing. The US lacks formal diplomatic ties with North Korea and relies on Sweden for diplomatic matters involving US citizens there.
Bae's trial on charges of "committing hostile acts" against North Korea took place in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported. KCNA referred to Bae as Pae Jun Ho, the North Korean spelling for his Korean name.
Bae was arrested in early November in Rason, a special economic zone in North Korea's far northeastern region bordering China and Russia, state media said. The exact nature of Bae's alleged crimes has not been revealed.
Friends and colleagues say Bae was based in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, and traveled frequently to North Korea to feed orphans.
There are parallels to a case in 2009. After Pyongyang's launch of a long-range rocket and its second underground nuclear test that year, two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor after sneaking across the border from China. They later were pardoned on humanitarian grounds and released to Clinton, who met with then-leader Kim Jong Il. US-North Korea talks came later that year.
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