N. Korea Says American Jailed For 15 Years Transferred To 'special Prison'

[News_Editor]

<p>PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA (BNO NEWS) -- A Korean American man who was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor after being found guilty of plotting to overthrow the North Korean government has begun serving his sentence at a 'special prison,' state-run media reported on Wednesday.

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<p>Pae Jun Ho, who is better known by his American name Kenneth Bae, was sentenced last month to 15 years of hard labor after being found guilty of committing unspecified crimes aimed at toppling the North Korean government. His family has denied the allegations and said he was only working as a tour operator.

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<p>In a brief dispatch Wednesday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Bae had been transferred to a prison on Tuesday to begin serving his sentence. "Pae Jun Ho, an American citizen, started his life at a 'special prison' on Tuesday," the report said, giving no other details.

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<p>Bae was arrested in November 2012 after he traveled from China to the North Korean special economic zone of Rason with a group of businessmen, but the exact purpose of his visit is unclear. KCNA previously said the unspecified crimes had been proven with evidence, but gave no other details.

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<p>Earlier this month, the U.S. government called on North Korea to grant amnesty and release Bae immediately. "While some of the facts are limited to our knowledge - we don't know all of the facts - we are concerned that, broadly speaking, about the transparency and due process in North Korea, and we think he should be released," U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.

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<p>North Korea and the United States have no diplomatic relations, but Sweden acts as a protecting power. Ventrell said officials from the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang last visited Bae on April 26, but they did not attend last month's sentencing. It is not known whether the Swedish officials chose not to attend the sentencing or were prevented from doing so.

</p> <p> (Copyright 2013 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].) </p>

[ABCer]

Condemning a person to 15 years of hard labour on a basis of 'proven unspecified crimes'! This sounds familiar! Something like:

-Didn't assume 'Attention!' position when the National Anthem sounded on a wire public radio broadcast, or

-Failed to 'Salute' to one of numerous 'Idol' statues, or

-Photographed the hungry poor kids in the street (those few not hungry are behind the guarded walls), or

-Sold the 'Motherland' to the 'Fatherland' in Stars-n-Stripes pants, or

-Wiped his bum with a piece of newspaper with a portrait of The Great Man because there is no toilet paper in NK, or

-Listened to the news on a wireless, while the rest of NK can only use Wire Address Loud Speakers, or ...

... am I running out of imagination? ... is my memory failing? ...

-Oh, yes! Told a local that food is better in SK and has been dobbed in for an extra bowl of rice, or ...

-Called White - 'white' - whereas the State propaganda calls it 'black', or

-Whatever...

The rest of the World is sitting on their hands and watching 'in indignation, but pretending to be helpless'.

Bullocks! Everybody knows the NK regime is not sustainable...

But the important things are - which way it will fall? Who gets to keep the bits and pieces when it falls? Who will 'Privatize' the bloody thing? Who will become the next 12 world's overnight billioners?

From this viewpoint a measly life of a new American of Korean descent is of no importance...