North Korea sentences American to six years of hard labour

A North Korean court has sentenced US citizen Matthew Miller to six years of hard labour for ‘hostile acts’, the state-run KCNA new agency said.

Miller, 24, was arrested in April, shortly after arriving in the country as a tourist. North Korean authorities have not specified the charges against Miller but said that he tore up his visa and demanded political asylum in the country.

The US State Department said that Miller did not sign a Privacy Act Waiver, which would have allowed information about him to be released to the public.

In a brief interview with CNN earlier this month, Miller said that he was 'prepared to violate the law of North Korea before coming here.' He also said that he had deliberately committed his ‘crime’, although he did not specify what his crime was.

“This is the way they play,” US state department official Daniel Reuters told Reuters last week. “They use human beings, and in this case American citizens, as pawns.”

Two other Americans are also being detained in North Korea. Jeffrey Fowle visited the country as a tourist back was arrested in May for allegedly leaving a Bible in a public place.

Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American missionary, was arrested in November 2012 and is serving 15 years in a labour camp after being found guilty of trying to overthrow North Korea’s government.

The White House has said that releasing these three American citizens is a ‘top priority’.