Tri-Service
'Spy' Sentenced To 10 Years Hard Labour
A US citizen has been jailed for 10 years in North Korea after being convicted of espionage and subversion.
Kim Dong-chul, 62, who is of Korean heritage, has been held in the country for spying and stealing state secrets, according to the North's official news agency.
North Korea’s Supreme Court sentenced him to 10 years in prison with hard labour following a brief trial in Pyongyang.
He was paraded in front of the local media last month when he admitted collaborating with South Korean intelligence agencies in a plot to bring down Kim Jong-un.
It was also claimed he had tried to spread religion among North Koreans before he was arrested in the city of Rason in October 2015.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said Kim’s case was not related to them in any way.
Kim is the second US citizen to be jailed this year.
Otto Warmbier, an American university student, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour in March after Pyongyang said he was engaged in anti-state activities while visiting the country as a tourist last year.
The arrest is the latest in a series of events leading to increasing tensions between North Korea and the US.
On Thursday a powerful North Korean missile, aimed at being capable of reaching US military bases, reportedly exploded just seconds after lift-off.
On Saturday the US condemned a test of a submarine ballistic missile by the North amid indications the country is planning to carry out its fifth nuclear test.
Launch of submarine ballistic missile. KCNA
And last month the North fired a missile into the sea hours after the United States and China agreed to work together to prevent further missile tests from the state.
Most of those sentenced to long prison terms in the country are released before serving the full time and some say their statements of guilt were coerced.
In 2009 a visit from former president Bill Clinton secured the freedom of American journalist Euna Lee and Laura Ling who had crossed the border into North Korea from China illegally.
And in 2014 the US spy chief James Clapper travelled to the country to bring home Matthew Miller and missionary Kenneth Bae.
Jeremy Fowle, a US tourist held for six months, was released just before the visit of Mr Clapper.
Fowle left a Bible in a local club for a North Korean to find, which is considered a criminal offence by Kim Jong-un’s regime.
Cover Image: KCNA
Related topics
Join Our Newsletter
