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| North Korea’s Sentencing of American Puts U.S. in a Bind | North Korea’s Sentencing of American Puts U.S. in a Bind |
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| SEOUL, South Korea — By sentencing an American citizen to 15 years of hard labor this week for committing hostile acts against North Korea’s government, the North is forcing the United States to choose between two equally distasteful options, analysts said on Thursday. | SEOUL, South Korea — By sentencing an American citizen to 15 years of hard labor this week for committing hostile acts against North Korea’s government, the North is forcing the United States to choose between two equally distasteful options, analysts said on Thursday. |
| Washington, as it did twice in the past when Americans were held hostage by North Korea, could send a former president to win the release of the American, Kenneth Bae, who was convicted and sentenced on Tuesday in the North’s capital, Pyongyang. Then, the North, as it did before, could advertise such a high-profile visit as an American capitulation before its young leader, Kim Jong-un, who is craving a chance to burnish his profile as a tough anti-American strategist. | Washington, as it did twice in the past when Americans were held hostage by North Korea, could send a former president to win the release of the American, Kenneth Bae, who was convicted and sentenced on Tuesday in the North’s capital, Pyongyang. Then, the North, as it did before, could advertise such a high-profile visit as an American capitulation before its young leader, Kim Jong-un, who is craving a chance to burnish his profile as a tough anti-American strategist. |
| Or the United States, as its leaders have repeatedly vowed, could try to break the North’s habit of blackmailing its adversaries by ignoring its latest pressure tactic — and let one of its citizens be incarcerated in the police state, and even though unlikely, languish in one of its infamous prison camps, where the State Department says starvation and forced labor remain rampant. | |
| Other Americans held prisoner in the North were kept in special facilities, away from domestic inmates, out of fear that when released, they would testify about the condition of prison camps. North Korea denies human rights abuses in its prisons but so far, no outsider has been allowed to visit any of its labor or more notorious political prisoner camps. | |
| The sentencing came at a time of high tension between the North and the United States, and it was handed down the same day that joint American-South Korean military drills ended. The North had said the military exercises were being used to prepare for an invasion. With the end of the drills, analysts have said, North Korea might tone down its bellicosity and shift its focus toward drawing Washington back to the negotiating table — using, among other things, the plight of Mr. Bae as bait. | The sentencing came at a time of high tension between the North and the United States, and it was handed down the same day that joint American-South Korean military drills ended. The North had said the military exercises were being used to prepare for an invasion. With the end of the drills, analysts have said, North Korea might tone down its bellicosity and shift its focus toward drawing Washington back to the negotiating table — using, among other things, the plight of Mr. Bae as bait. |
| “The timing of the sentencing makes us think that the North is again playing its old card,” said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea specialist at Dongguk University in Seoul. “But will the Americans play the same game? If Washington sends a former president whenever North Korea holds an American captive, they say it will run out of former presidents.” | “The timing of the sentencing makes us think that the North is again playing its old card,” said Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea specialist at Dongguk University in Seoul. “But will the Americans play the same game? If Washington sends a former president whenever North Korea holds an American captive, they say it will run out of former presidents.” |
| Mr. Bae, 44, a Korean-American from Washington State who ran a tour business out of China, was arrested in the special economic zone of Rason in northeastern North Korea in November after leading a group of businessmen there from Yanji, China. South Korean human rights advocates have said Mr. Bae not only ran tours to North Korea but was also interested in helping orphans there. They said security officials in the North may have been offended by pictures of orphans that Mr. Bae had taken and stored in his computer. | Mr. Bae, 44, a Korean-American from Washington State who ran a tour business out of China, was arrested in the special economic zone of Rason in northeastern North Korea in November after leading a group of businessmen there from Yanji, China. South Korean human rights advocates have said Mr. Bae not only ran tours to North Korea but was also interested in helping orphans there. They said security officials in the North may have been offended by pictures of orphans that Mr. Bae had taken and stored in his computer. |
| The North said on Saturday that it was indicting him on charges that he tried to overthrow the s government, a crime that called for a punishment as severe as the death penalty. But on Tuesday, its Supreme Court convicted him of “hostile acts,” a charge less grave than the original, the North said. | |
| Mr. Bae is at least the sixth American detained in North Korea since 2009, and his punishment was the most severe. The others eventually were deported or released. | Mr. Bae is at least the sixth American detained in North Korea since 2009, and his punishment was the most severe. The others eventually were deported or released. |
| Most of them, like Mr. Bae, are devout Christians. While North Korea’s Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, in practice it brutally cracks down on religious activities, according to human rights groups. The government has been particularly angered about a campaign by Christian activists to bring outside news and the Christian Gospel into the isolated country, using balloons with messages hidden inside and human smugglers. Some of those same activists also work to help defectors flee. | Most of them, like Mr. Bae, are devout Christians. While North Korea’s Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, in practice it brutally cracks down on religious activities, according to human rights groups. The government has been particularly angered about a campaign by Christian activists to bring outside news and the Christian Gospel into the isolated country, using balloons with messages hidden inside and human smugglers. Some of those same activists also work to help defectors flee. |
| In 2009, North Korea arrested two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who it said had entered illegally and committed “hostile acts.” They were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor, but were released five months later, when former President Bill Clinton visited Pyongyang and met with Kim Jong-il, the leader at the time. | In 2009, North Korea arrested two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who it said had entered illegally and committed “hostile acts.” They were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor, but were released five months later, when former President Bill Clinton visited Pyongyang and met with Kim Jong-il, the leader at the time. |
| In 2010, another American, Aijalon Mahli Gomes, was arrested in the North and sentenced to eight years of hard labor, also for illegal entry and “hostile acts.” He was freed when former President Jimmy Carter visited Pyongyang to ask for his release and according to North Korea, “apologized” for the man’s crime. | In 2010, another American, Aijalon Mahli Gomes, was arrested in the North and sentenced to eight years of hard labor, also for illegal entry and “hostile acts.” He was freed when former President Jimmy Carter visited Pyongyang to ask for his release and according to North Korea, “apologized” for the man’s crime. |
| The sentencing of Mr. Bae comes as the North has been locked in a standoff with the United States and South Korea since December, when the North launched a three-stage rocket. It detonated a nuclear bomb in February, raising tensions even higher. | The sentencing of Mr. Bae comes as the North has been locked in a standoff with the United States and South Korea since December, when the North launched a three-stage rocket. It detonated a nuclear bomb in February, raising tensions even higher. |
| The United States and South Korea have tried to remain firm on North Korea and tighten sanctions until it abandons its nuclear program. But the North has sounded equally determined to force the rest of the world to accept it as a nuclear weapons state. At the same time, it recently announced that it was revving up its nuclear weapons production, which some analysts said was designed to compel Washington to start a dialogue with the North. | The United States and South Korea have tried to remain firm on North Korea and tighten sanctions until it abandons its nuclear program. But the North has sounded equally determined to force the rest of the world to accept it as a nuclear weapons state. At the same time, it recently announced that it was revving up its nuclear weapons production, which some analysts said was designed to compel Washington to start a dialogue with the North. |
| Another complicated tussle on the Korean Peninsula continued on Thursday over the fate of the factory park jointly operated by North and South Korea. Early last month, North Korea pulled out all its 53,000 workers from the Kaesong factory complex. South Korea responded in the past week by withdrawing all the managers from its 123 factories there, effectively emptying out the economic zone, the last remaining joint Korean project. | Another complicated tussle on the Korean Peninsula continued on Thursday over the fate of the factory park jointly operated by North and South Korea. Early last month, North Korea pulled out all its 53,000 workers from the Kaesong factory complex. South Korea responded in the past week by withdrawing all the managers from its 123 factories there, effectively emptying out the economic zone, the last remaining joint Korean project. |
| Determined not to give in to North Korean pressure, the South Korean government prepared for a prolonged suspension of the industrial complex on Thursday by announcing $270 million in emergency loans to help the South Korean companies weather the shutdown. | Determined not to give in to North Korean pressure, the South Korean government prepared for a prolonged suspension of the industrial complex on Thursday by announcing $270 million in emergency loans to help the South Korean companies weather the shutdown. |