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North Korea announces it has sentenced US citizen Kenneth Bae, aka Pae Jun-ho, to 15 years of hard labor.

The announcement, from state news agency KCNA, said Pae Jun-ho, known in the US as Kenneth Bae, was tried on April 30.

Kenneth Bae was held last year after entering North Korea as a tourist. Pyongyang said he was accused of anti-government crimes.

The move comes amid high tensions between North Korea and the US, after Pyongyang’s third nuclear test.

North Korean media said last week that Pae Jun-ho had admitted charges of crimes against North Korea, including attempting to overthrow the government.

“The Supreme Court sentenced him to 15 years of compulsory labor for this crime,” KCNA said.

Kenneth Bae was held last year after entering North Korea as a tourist and he was accused of anti-government crimes

Kenneth Bae was held last year after entering North Korea as a tourist and he was accused of anti-government crimes

Kenneth Bae, 44, was arrested in November as he entered the northeastern port city of Rason, a special economic zone near North Korea’s border with China.

He is believed to be a tour operator of Korean descent. The Associated Press news agency also reports that he is described by friends as a devout Christian.

“We call on the DPRK [North Korea] to release Kenneth Bae immediately on humanitarian grounds,” US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said on Monday.

North Korea has arrested several US citizens in recent years, including journalists and Christians accused of proselytism.

They were released after intervention from high-profile American figures, including former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, both of whom went to Pyongyang.

In 2009, Bill Clinton negotiated the release of two US journalists accused of entering North Korea illegally, Laura Ling and Euna Lee.

Held after North Korea’s second nuclear test, both had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor before they were released.

Observers suggest Pyongyang could be using the jailed American as leverage, amid a very tense situation on the Korean peninsula.

The UN expanded sanctions against the communist state in March, in the wake of its February 12 nuclear test and December long-range rocket launch.

Pyongyang reacted angrily both to the measures and annual US-South Korea military exercises which saw high-profile displays of US military hardware.

It threatened to attack US military bases around the region and cut key hotlines with South Korea.

It has also withdrawn its workers from the North-South joint industrial zone at Kaesong, prompting South Korea to pull its staff out for the first time since the project was launched a decade ago.

Only seven South Koreans remain at Kaesong, a complex just inside North Korea where more than 120 South Korean firms operate using North Korea workers.

Seoul says they are negotiating final wage payments and should be returning South Korea soon.

The South Korean government has pledged 300 billion won ($273 million) in emergency loans for firms hit by the suspension at Kaesong.

US detainees in North Korea:

  • Eddie Jun Yong-su: Businessman detained for six months in 2011, freed after a visit led by US envoy Robert King
  • Aijalon Mahli Gomes: Teacher and Christian jailed in 2010 for eight years over illegal entry via China – freed after Jimmy Carter visited Pyongyang
  • Robert Park: US activist crossed into North Korea via China in late 2009 – freed in 2010 by North Korea
  • Laura Ling/Euna Lee: Jailed in 2009 for 12 years over illegal entry via the Chinese border – freed after Bill Clinton met Kim Jong-il

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US citizen Pae Jun-Ho, aka Kenneth Bae, will be tried soon on charges including attempting to overthrow North Korea’s government, state news agency KCNA says.

According to KCNA, Pae Jun-Ho has admitted the charges, without specifying when the verdict will be handed down.

Pae Jun-Ho, who is known in the US as Kenneth Bae, was held last year after entering North Korea as a tourist.

Kenneth Bae’s case comes at a time of high tension between Pyongyang and Washington.

This follows North Korea’s third nuclear test on February 12.

“The preliminary inquiry into crimes committed by American citizen Pae Jun-Ho closed,” the KCNA said in a report on Saturday.

“In the process of investigation he admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] with hostility toward it.”

“His crimes were proved by evidence,” the report added.

“He will soon be taken to the Supreme Court of the DPRK to face judgement.”

It is not clear what sort of sanction Pae Jun-Ho, 44, might face, although North Korea’s criminal code provides for life imprisonment or the death penalty for similar offences.

Pae Jun-Ho, who is known in the US as Kenneth Bae, was held last year after entering North Korea as a tourist

Pae Jun-Ho, who is known in the US as Kenneth Bae, was held last year after entering North Korea as a tourist

North Korea has arrested several US citizens in recent years, including journalists and Christians accused of proselytism. They have been released after intervention by senior American public figures.

Pae Jun-Ho, believed to be a tour operator of Korean descent, is the sixth American detained in North Korea since 2009.

Former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter as well as former UN Ambassador Bill Richardson have all been involved in mediation efforts to gain the release of previous American detainees.

In one of the most high-profile cases, Bill Clinton negotiated the release in 2009 of two US journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who had been found guilty of entering North Korea illegally.

“For North Korea, Bae is a bargaining chip in dealing with the US,” Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University in Seoul told Associated Press news agency.

“The North will use him in a way that helps bring the US to talks when the mood slowly turns toward dialogue,” he said.

Pae Jun-Ho was reportedly arrested in November after arriving in Rason – a special economic zone in the north-east of the country near the Russian border.

Washington has so far not publicly commented on the latest development.

The US and North Korea do not have diplomatic relations. The Swedish embassy in Pyongyang represents the US.

In a further sign of the continuing tension on the Korean peninsula, South Korea has begun withdrawing its remaining workers from the Kaesong joint industrial zone in North Korea.

Kaesong Industrial Complex, once considered a symbol of reconciliation, lies just north of the military demarcation line dividing the two Koreas.

South Korean officials said 126 people had left, with the final 48 expected home by Monday.

North Korea has already withdrawn its 53,000 workers and blocked access to the zone in response to joint South Korean and US military exercises.

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