Korean-American sentenced to 10 years hard labour in North Korea for espionage

According to the North’s state media, Kim Dong-chul had been arrested in Rason as he was receiving a USB stick containing nuclear-linked and military secrets from his source

1-MIN READ1-MIN

Kim Dong-chul in January 2016. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:59am, 29 Apr 2016Updated: 5:25pm, 29 Apr 2016

North Korea on Friday sentenced a detained Korean-American, Kim Dong-chul, to 10 years hard labour on charges of subversion and espionage, China’s official Xinhua news agency said.

The announcement, which comes at a time of elevated military tensions on the Korean peninsula, followed an even harsher sentence of 15 years hard labour passed last month on a US student, Otto Warmbier, for stealing a propaganda banner from a tourist hotel in Pyongyang.

The brief Xinhua despatch from Pyongyang said Kim’s penalty was handed down by North Korea’s Supreme Court.

The 62-year-old, who became a naturalised US citizen in 1987, was arrested on espionage charges back in October.

Kim was paraded in front of media cameras in the North Korean capital a month ago, when he admitted to stealing military secrets and pleaded for clemency in a carefully orchestrated “confession”.

His detention first came to public attention when he was produced in January during an interview CNN was conducting with a detained Canadian pastor in a Pyongyang hotel.