N Korea sentences American to 10 yrs hard labour

Seoul - Six foreigners, including Kim and three South Koreans, are known to be detained in the North.

North Korea's Supreme Court sentenced a Korean-American man to 10 years of hard labour on Friday for subversion, China's Xinhua news agency reported, in the latest conviction of a foreigner for crimes against the isolated state.
Kim Dong Chul was arrested in North Korea in October and had admitted to committing "unpardonable espionage" including stealing military secrets, the North's official news agency reported earlier.
"The Supreme Court of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Friday sentenced South Korea-born US citizen Kim Dong Chul to 10 years of hard labour for subversion of the DPRK social system and espionage activities," Xinhua said.
There were no further details.
North Korea, which has been criticised for its poor human rights record for years, has used detained Americans in the past to extract high-profile visits from the United States, with which it has no formal diplomatic relations.
It has previously handed down lengthy sentences to foreigners before eventually freeing them.
Six foreigners, including Kim and three South Koreans, are known to be detained in the North.
Kim, who has said he was a naturalised American citizen, had confessed to committing espionage under the direction of the U.S. and South Korean governments and apologised for his crimes, according to the North's KCNA news agency.
Some foreigners held by North Korea have said after their release that their confessions were coerced.
The North is also holding an American, Otto Warmbier, who was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour in March for trying to steal a propaganda banner. It is also holding a Korean-Canadian Christian pastor, who is serving a life sentence for subversion.
North Korea has tightened security ahead of the first ruling party congress in 36 years which will begin on May 6. It has also intensified its pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles since its fourth nuclear test in January.
Prominent detentions of foreigners by North Korea in recent years (via AP)
- American tourist Otto Warmbier was sentenced in March to 15 years in prison with hard labor for subversion. The 21-year-old University of Virginia undergraduate said before the trial that he tried to steal a propaganda banner as a trophy for an acquaintance who wanted to hang it in her church.
- Hyeon Soo Lim, pastor of a Toronto church, was sentenced in December to life in prison for allegedly harming the dignity of North Korea's leadership and trying to use religion to destroy its system. Supporters have said Lim was on a humanitarian trip when he was detained last February.
- Won Moon Joo, a South Korean studying at New York University, was freed in October after being detained for six months for illegal entry.
- American Sandra Suh was deported in April 2015 after being accused of making anti-North propaganda while visiting the country.
- Americans Matthew Miller and Kenneth Bae went home in November 2014 after their release was secured through a secret mission by the top US intelligence official. A missionary, Bae had been detained while leading a tour group in 2012 and was serving a 15-year sentence for alleged anti-government activities. Miller was serving six years on an espionage charge after North Korea accused him of wanting to secretly investigate its prison system.
- Jeffrey Fowle of Ohio was freed in October 2014, nearly six months after he was arrested for leaving a Bible in a nightclub.
- Australian missionary John Short was deported in March 2014 after he apologized for anti-state religious acts. He told Australian media that he was interrogated for four hours a day during his 13-day detention.
- In 2011, former President Jimmy Carter visited North Korea to win the release of American Aijalon Gomes, who had been sentenced to eight years of hard labor for crossing illegally into North Korea from China.
- In 2009, North Korea detained two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, for illegally crossing the border. They were later freed after former US President Bill Clinton visited Pyongyang.