North Korean army officers punch the air as they chant slogans during a rally at Kim Il Sung Square in downtown Pyongyang, North Korea in this file photo.SEOUL, South Korea – An American detained for nearly six months in North Korea has been sentenced to 15 years of “compulsory labor” for unspecified crimes against the state, Pyongyang announced Thursday.
The sentencing of Kenneth Bae, described by friends as a devout Christian and a tour operator, will further complicate already strained relations between Pyongyang and Washington as the countries pursue tentative diplomacy following weeks of warlike threats from North Korea.
Pyongyang’s official state media said Bae’s trial took place Tuesday, but the dispatch provided few new details. Bae was tried in the country’s Supreme Court on charges of plotting to overthrow the government. He could’ve faced the death penalty.
The exact nature of his alleged crimes has not been revealed.
Bae was arrested in early November in Rason, a special economic zone in North Korea’s far northeastern region bordering China and Russia, North Korea said.