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North Korea to issue verdict on US citizen | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
A US citizen will be tried soon on charges including attempting to overthrow North Korea's government, the North's official news agency says. | |
KCNA says that Pae Jun-Ho has admitted the charges, without specifying when the verdict will be handed down. | |
Pae Jun-Ho, who is known in the US as Kenneth Bae, was held last year after entering North Korea as a tourist. | Pae Jun-Ho, who is known in the US as Kenneth Bae, was held last year after entering North Korea as a tourist. |
His case comes at a time of high tension between Pyongyang and Washington. | |
This follows North Korea's third nuclear test in February. | This follows North Korea's third nuclear test in February. |
'Proved by evidence' | 'Proved by evidence' |
"The preliminary inquiry into crimes committed by American citizen Pae Jun-Ho closed," the KCNA said in a report on Saturday. | "The preliminary inquiry into crimes committed by American citizen Pae Jun-Ho closed," the KCNA said in a report on Saturday. |
"In the process of investigation he admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) with hostility toward it. | "In the process of investigation he admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) with hostility toward it. |
"His crimes were proved by evidence," the report added. "He will soon be taken to the Supreme Court of the DPRK to face judgement." | |
It is not clear what sort of sanction Mr Pae, 44, might face, although North Korea's criminal code provides for life imprisonment or the death penalty for similar offences. | |
North Korea has arrested several US citizens in recent years, including journalists and Christians accused of proselytism. They have been released after intervention by senior American public figures. | |
Mr Pae, believed to be a tour operator of Korean descent, is the sixth American detained in North Korea since 2009. | |
Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter as well as former UN Ambassador Bill Richardson have all been involved in mediation efforts to gain the release of previous American detainees. | |
Industrial complex | |
In one of the most high-profile cases, Mr Clinton negotiated the release in 2009 of two US journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who had been found guilty of entering North Korea illegally. | |
"For North Korea, Bae is a bargaining chip in dealing with the US," Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University in Seoul told Associated Press news agency. | |
"The North will use him in a way that helps bring the US to talks when the mood slowly turns toward dialogue,'' he said. | |
Mr Pae was reportedly arrested in November after arriving in Rason - a special economic zone in the north-east of the country near the Russian border. | |
Washington has so far not publicly commented on the latest development. | Washington has so far not publicly commented on the latest development. |
The US and North Korea do not have diplomatic relations. The Swedish embassy in Pyongyang represents the US. | The US and North Korea do not have diplomatic relations. The Swedish embassy in Pyongyang represents the US. |
In a further sign of the continuing tension on the Korean peninsula, South Korea has begun withdrawing its remaining workers from the Kaesong joint industrial zone in North Korea. | |
The complex, once considered a symbol of reconciliation, lies just north of the military demarcation line dividing the two Koreas. | |
South Korean officials said 126 people had left, with the final 48 expected home by Monday. | |
North Korea has already withdrawn its 53,000 workers and blocked access to the zone in response to joint South Korean and US military exercises. |