DPRK sentences US citizen to 15-yr hard labor

PYONGYANG - A US citizen was sentenced 15 years of compulsory labor by the Supreme Court of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday, the official KCNA news agency said Thursday.

Pae Jun Ho, the defendant, was arrested while "committing hostile acts against the DPRK" after entering Rason City as a tourist on Nov 3 last year, it said.

During the preliminary inquiry into his crimes, Pae "admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the DPRK with hostility toward it". His crimes were "proved by evidence", the KCNA added.

From Jan 7 to 10, Former US, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt paid a "private humanitarian" visit to Pyongyang, which was reportedly linked to the release of Pae.

However, Richardson did not elaborate on whether he met Pae or not while commenting the private trip as "a productive and successful one".