A Korean American has been sentenced to 15 years' hard labor in North Korea for unspecified crimes against the repressive state. The official KCNA news agency reported on Thursday that Kenneth Bae was arrested in the Rajin Songbong special economic zone on Nov. 3 last year. The court hearing came only three days after the North announced last Saturday it was bringing him to trial.
Outsiders believe the North is using Bae as a bargaining chip to get concessions from the U.S. A government official in Seoul speculated, "They're telling the U.S. to come and get him."
The tactic resembles the arrest in 2009 of two American journalists in the border region with China. Thirty-eight days after their arrest, the North announced it was putting them on trial. When the U.S. did not respond, it sentenced them to 12 years' hard labor. The U.S. then sent former President Bill Clinton to Pyongyang on to win their release. |