American Sentanced To 15 Years Hard Labour in North Korea.

American Sentenced To 15 Years Hard Labour in North Korea.

www.guardian.co.uk

A North Korean court has sentenced the US citizen Kenneth Bae to 15 years, hard labour after finding him guilty of unspecified crimes against the state in a move possibly intended to force concessions from Washington.

Bae was arrested in November 2012 in Rason, a special economic zone in North Korea's far north-eastern region bordering China and Russia. His trial at the country's supreme court began on Tuesday, according to the official KCNA news agency, which referred to Bae as Pae Jun-ho, the North Korean rendering of his name. The sentence was announced on Thursday.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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So, this may be the Norky's looking for a bargining chip.
Maybe the start of collecting humans shields against a pre-emptive American and South Korean strike.

He's been held since November last year.

Normally the maximum sentance for "crimes against the state" (which probably covers everything from spying to littering) is ten years, however they've given him a much harder sentance without revealing what he's actually done..

Then again, maybe Mr Bae isnt all he seems.

With things as they are now, it would have been a good time to have a man on the ground gathering info...

The fact they know nothing about him, they "think" he lives in China and runs a tourist agency called Nation Tours and has visited North Korea "numerous times" may be a sign. Maybe he's a company man.

After all, who runs package tours to North Korea...

The plot thickens..

www.guardian.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Plus he was arrested in the Chinese special economic zone, I can't imagine anyone runs package tours to see the Chinese exploiting people with a lower hourly wage than them....

I was literally just thinking about the deafening silence from North Korea after such raucous rhetoric, opened up BBC and BAM! There it is...

If it were chess then Korea have captured a pawn I feel, Kim's a whacko granted but, given how little is known about the man in question and te fact the poster above pointed out about tour groups in the Chinese economic zone (really, what's to see there?) I think there may be more to this man. Who knows for sure anymore? Not I.

In the BBC article it also said that NK claim Mr Bae pleaded guilty to attempting to overthrow the government which I found very curiously. Who is this man that he could single handedly overthrow the government an if he had collaborators which, surely he must for such a feat...where are they at?

See what comes of it I guess.

Originally posted by MaxSteiner
Plus he was arrested in the Chinese special economic zone, I can't imagine anyone runs package tours to see the Chinese exploiting people with a lower hourly wage than them....

edit on 2-5-2013 by MaxSteiner because: (no reason given)

Maybe the Chinese are making more than cheap radios and MP3's in the zone...

Maybe one their factories is dedicated to a little more than making cheap kitchen implements by night....

Could explain the US's fears about the Nork's nuclear program and the reason why this guy leads "tours" of an economic zone, not only once but a few times...

I'd expect that SOCOM will be having some unit head there to save this guy.
Especially if a big deal is made about it.
(hopefully at least)

reply to post by andy1972


Good point, I hadn't considered that, but you;ve got to imagine that the health and safety/environmental/legal concerns of operating in North Korea are even more lax than whats allowed in China - it's probably the perfect place to be developing dubious items - you could just offer to share the research if NK raises any concerns about it...

What would a USA citzen want to vist North Korea for?

Quite frankly he knew he was taking a big risk so the fact he is captured is his own fault.

They press know nothing about this guy...an American citizen that lives in China, if this was a normal guy his family would have been on TV calling for the president to bring him home..however, silence.

He runs a tour company..giving him reason to be in and out of countries at will and the ability to travel within those countries without many people asking why, because he always travels with tourists.

The last time i saw something like this it was Urban Moving Systems (A mossad business front in new york that was so prominent in the 9/11 investigations, remember, the little moving firm that recieved a one off government grant of 500,000 just before 9/11, then just after it's owner Dominic Suter fled to Israel).

Is this the brave soul who was exposing the plight of orphans and the inhuman conditions there

We need to send prayers and intentions for his freedom, miracles and release. See it as if it already is done and feel this, these emotions of gratitude and thankfulness.

This all seems very fishy to me. Mr Bae appears to have been arrested on slightly different charges to those leveled at previous guests of the North Korean government. For a start, the previous hostages, prisoners, whatever one wishes to call them, were arrested ostensibly on grounds that they entered the country illegally. There seems to be no mention of that charge being leveled against Mr Bae however. The only information one can gain from examining MSM reportage on this issue, is that Mr Bae has been accused of, and allegedly admitted to crimes against North Korea ,including attempting to overthrow the government.

Two things interest me about the wording being used to describe the reason for his current imprisonment. One of those is the ambiguous description "crimes against North Korea", and the other is the word "including". The reason the phrase "crimes against North Korea" is interesting, is because as a phrase, it doesnt mean an awful lot. It has no detail attendant to it. This is an obsfucatory phrase, either being used by NK to make defense difficult and to make it hard for the U.S. to counter claim on Mr Bae's behalf, or is being used by the media to make people suspicious of North Korea. Its a bigger story when not all the facts come to light immediately, or in fine detail. It leaves room for a special report later on I suppose.

The word "including" interests me, because when it is used in conjunction with phrases like "attempting to overthrow the government", it makes one wonder what else he might have been up to, or at least, makes one wonder what the North Koreans thought he was up to. Make no mistake though, the wording used by the press in this specific case is interesting, and different than has been used to describe the other captives held by NK over the years. This may well mean that the release of Mr Bae will not be a simple matter of sending some high powered big wig over there, dodging the nuclear bullet, and giving lil Kim a shot in the arm in front of his people.

I very much doubt that the photographs of starving children can have been used as even the weakest lever to unseat the current government from thier lofty perches, since images of starving children pour out of other nations, nations which retain thier leaders despite thier publication, so such images are unlikely to be the reason for Mr Bae's detention.

Whatever the rationale, whatever the justification, I hope that Mr Bae is released, but as I say, I fear that the process which might lead to such a liberation will not be as simple as it may have been for others who found themselves running afoul of the North Korean government.

Rule of thumb: If you don't want to follow their rules, don't visit their country.

As for the explanation of him being there to expose slavery, he could of stayed in the US and done that. Anything else is harvesting material for use in propaganda.

Originally posted by TrueBrit
This all seems very fishy to me. Mr Bae appears to have been arrested on slightly different charges to those leveled at previous guests of the North Korean government. For a start, the previous hostages, prisoners, whatever one wishes to call them, were arrested ostensibly on grounds that they entered the country illegally. There seems to be no mention of that charge being leveled against Mr Bae however. The only information one can gain from examining MSM reportage on this issue, is that Mr Bae has been accused of, and allegedly admitted to crimes against North Korea ,including attempting to overthrow the government.

Two things interest me about the wording being used to describe the reason for his current imprisonment. One of those is the ambiguous description "crimes against North Korea", and the other is the word "including". The reason the phrase "crimes against North Korea" is interesting, is because as a phrase, it doesnt mean an awful lot. It has no detail attendant to it. This is an obsfucatory phrase, either being used by NK to make defense difficult and to make it hard for the U.S. to counter claim on Mr Bae's behalf, or is being used by the media to make people suspicious of North Korea. Its a bigger story when not all the facts come to light immediately, or in fine detail. It leaves room for a special report later on I suppose.

The word "including" interests me, because when it is used in conjunction with phrases like "attempting to overthrow the government", it makes one wonder what else he might have been up to, or at least, makes one wonder what the North Koreans thought he was up to. Make no mistake though, the wording used by the press in this specific case is interesting, and different than has been used to describe the other captives held by NK over the years. This may well mean that the release of Mr Bae will not be a simple matter of sending some high powered big wig over there, dodging the nuclear bullet, and giving lil Kim a shot in the arm in front of his people.

I very much doubt that the photographs of starving children can have been used as even the weakest lever to unseat the current government from thier lofty perches, since images of starving children pour out of other nations, nations which retain thier leaders despite thier publication, so such images are unlikely to be the reason for Mr Bae's detention.

Whatever the rationale, whatever the justification, I hope that Mr Bae is released, but as I say, I fear that the process which might lead to such a liberation will not be as simple as it may have been for others who found themselves running afoul of the North Korean government.

Being arrested for "crimes against North Korea" is akin to being charged with "conduct prejudicial to the good order and discipline of the army" it covers almost everything...its a universal put you in jail free card

Double post

Sorrryyyy

reply to post by andy1972


I think sending him back to the states is punishment enough.... I mean seriously.... Hard Labor??? Is he swing a hammer making big rocks into little rocks???

Originally posted by sulaw
reply to post by andy1972

 

I think sending him back to the states is punishment enough.... I mean seriously.... Hard Labor??? Is he swing a hammer making big rocks into little rocks???

Quite possibly....if not today, tommorow..

Thats of course if the company havn't given him a cyanide capsule to take in this situation....just like in the James Bond movies....

that's what you get if you spy. The US would do the same if they catch a spy in their country. I say Guantanamo and I say enough, people are still being held there without any valid reason

reply to post by Pirateofpsychonautics


He was taking pictures of hungry children which is not allowed in NK.. Harsh sentence though.

Fark North Korea and Kim jong un. ha ha