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| North Korea Says It Has Detained an American Citizen | North Korea Says It Has Detained an American Citizen |
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| SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said on Friday that it had charged an American citizen detained there with committing “hostile acts against the republic,” a crime punishable by years in prison, at a time when the United States is pushing for new sanctions against the reclusive country for a recent rocket launching. | |
| The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said that the American, identified as Bae Jun-ho, had entered the country on Nov. 3 through a port city near the Russian border. Human rights activists in South Korea said they believed Mr. Bae to be Kenneth Bae, 44, who they reported earlier this month was being held in the North. | The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said that the American, identified as Bae Jun-ho, had entered the country on Nov. 3 through a port city near the Russian border. Human rights activists in South Korea said they believed Mr. Bae to be Kenneth Bae, 44, who they reported earlier this month was being held in the North. |
| In recent years, North Korea has detained several Americans, in some cases agreeing to let them go only after high-profile American figures visited the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, to seek their release. Analysts have suspected North Korea’s leaders of trying to use such detentions to counter Washington’s diplomatic pressure over its nuclear and missile programs and force the United States to engage with them. | In recent years, North Korea has detained several Americans, in some cases agreeing to let them go only after high-profile American figures visited the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, to seek their release. Analysts have suspected North Korea’s leaders of trying to use such detentions to counter Washington’s diplomatic pressure over its nuclear and missile programs and force the United States to engage with them. |
| The North Korean report said, without elaborating, that an investigation had established Mr. Bae’s guilt and that he had confessed. It said he had been allowed to meet with officials from the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang. The Swedish Embassy intervenes on Washington’s behalf on issues involving American citizens in North Korea; Washington has no diplomatic relations with the North. | The North Korean report said, without elaborating, that an investigation had established Mr. Bae’s guilt and that he had confessed. It said he had been allowed to meet with officials from the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang. The Swedish Embassy intervenes on Washington’s behalf on issues involving American citizens in North Korea; Washington has no diplomatic relations with the North. |
| A State Department spokesman, Patrick Ventrell, citing privacy concerns, would say little on the matter on Friday other than to confirm that a United States citizen had been detained and that Sweden had been given access. | |
| The human rights activists in South Korea said Mr. Bae ran a travel company that specialized in taking tourists and prospective investors to North Korea. Mr. Bae, a naturalized American citizen born in South Korea, was detained after escorting five European tourists into the North, said Do Hee-youn, who heads the Citizens’ Coalition for the Human Rights of North Korean Refugees, based in Seoul. The Europeans were allowed to leave the country, Mr. Do said. | The human rights activists in South Korea said Mr. Bae ran a travel company that specialized in taking tourists and prospective investors to North Korea. Mr. Bae, a naturalized American citizen born in South Korea, was detained after escorting five European tourists into the North, said Do Hee-youn, who heads the Citizens’ Coalition for the Human Rights of North Korean Refugees, based in Seoul. The Europeans were allowed to leave the country, Mr. Do said. |
| The South Korean daily newspaper Kookmin Ilbo earlier cited an unidentified source as saying that Mr. Bae was detained after North Korean security officials found a computer hard disk in his possession that they believed contained delicate information about the country. Mr. Do said that Mr. Bae might have taken pictures of North Korean orphans he wanted to help and that the authorities might have considered that an act of propaganda against the North. | |
| In 2009, North Korea arrested two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, and sentenced them to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering the North and committing “hostile acts against the Korean nation.” The women were pardoned and released five months later, after former President Bill Clinton visited Pyongyang and met with Kim Jong-il, the leader at the time. | |
| In 2010, North Korea released Robert Park, a Korean-American Christian activist who entered the country in December 2009 to draw international attention to the North’s poor human rights record. Another American, Aijalon Mahli Gomes, was arrested the same year in North Korea and was sentenced to eight years of hard labor for illegal entry and “hostile acts.” He was freed after former President Jimmy Carter visited Pyongyang and, according to North Korea, “apologized” for the man’s crime. |