Asia-Pacific News

North Korea sentences US citizen to 6 years hard labor

Statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang, North Korea.
Gavin Hellier | Getty Images

North Korea sentenced U.S. citizen Matthew Todd Miller to six years hard labour for committing "hostile acts" as a tourist to the isolated country, a statement carried by state media said on Sunday.

Miller, from Bakersfield, California, and in his mid-20s, entered North Korea in April this year whereupon he tore up his tourist visa and demanded Pyongyang grant him asylum, according to a release from state media at the time.

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North Korea has yet to announce a trial date for fellow U.S. citizen Jeffrey Fowle, 56, from Miamisburg, Ohio, who was arrested in May this year for leaving a bible under the toilet of a sailor's club in the eastern port city of Chongjin.

U.S. missionary Kenneth Bae has been held by the isolated country since December 2012 and is currently serving a sentence of 15 years hard laborr for crimes North Korea said amounted to a plot to overthrow the state.