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| N Korea sentences Canada pastor to life in jail | N Korea sentences Canada pastor to life in jail |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| North Korea's highest court has sentenced a Canadian pastor to a life term of hard labour for "crimes against the state", reports say. | |
| Hyeon Soo Lim, 60, was arrested in Pyongyang after he travelled there in January for humanitarian work. | Hyeon Soo Lim, 60, was arrested in Pyongyang after he travelled there in January for humanitarian work. |
| The Toronto-based pastor, who is of South Korean origin, reportedly confessed earlier to a "subversive plot" to overthrow the government and set up a "religious state". | The Toronto-based pastor, who is of South Korean origin, reportedly confessed earlier to a "subversive plot" to overthrow the government and set up a "religious state". |
| North Korea bans religious activity. | North Korea bans religious activity. |
| North Korea periodically detains foreigners for religious or missionary activity. | |
| Associated Press and China's state run Xinhua, which both have a presence in Pyongyang, reported that Lim was given the sentence after a brief trial at the North Korean supreme court. | Associated Press and China's state run Xinhua, which both have a presence in Pyongyang, reported that Lim was given the sentence after a brief trial at the North Korean supreme court. |
| North Korean state media KCNA has not reported the court's decision. | North Korean state media KCNA has not reported the court's decision. |
| 'Subversive plots' | |
| Mr Lim and his colleagues travelled to Pyongyang on 31 January as part of a humanitarian mission. His family said it was to support a nursing home, nursery and orphanage. | |
| Mr Lim, who heads the Light Korean Presbyterian Church, had made numerous humanitarian aid missions to North Korea for nearly two decades, the church said. | |
| He was detained in February and in July a KCNA report said Mr Lim gave a press conference in Pyongyang where he admitted to using humanitarian work as a "guise" for "subversive plots and activities in a sinister bid to build a religious state". | |
| He also reportedly admitted to giving lectures that "North Korea should be collapsed with the love of 'God'", and helping the US and South Korea to aid North Korean defectors. |