PYONGYANG: North Korea on Friday sentenced a US citizen of Korean heritage to 10 years in prison with hard labour after convicting him of espionage and subversion, the second American it has put behind bars this year.

Kim Dong Chul was sentenced after a brief trial in Pyongyang by North Korea’s Supreme Court, which found him guilty of espionage and subversion under Articles 60 and 64 of the North’s criminal code.

North Korea regularly accuses Washington and Seoul of sending spies in an attempt to overthrow its government. Outsiders say North Korea seeks to use its US detainees to wring concessions from Washington.

Further details were not immediately available. When Kim was paraded before the media in Pyongyang last month, he said he had collaborated with and spied for South Korean intelligence authorities in a plot to bring down the North’s leadership and had tried to spread religion among North Koreans before his arrest in the city of Rason last October.

Some previously arrested foreigners have read declarations of guilt that they later said were coerced.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, the country’s main spy agency, has said Kim’s case isn’t related to the organization in any way.

Gabrielle Price, State Department spokeswoman for East Asia and the Pacific, said the US was aware of the reports that a US citizen has been sentenced to 10 years of hard labour, but could not comment further due to privacy considerations.

According to department policy, the US can only comment publicly on cases in which the citizen has signed a privacy waiver. It was not immediately clear whether the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang has had access to Kim. The embassy handles such consular matters for Washington as the US does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea.

Kim’s sentencing Friday came as North Korea also accused US soldiers of trying to provoke its frontline troops with “disgusting” facial expressions and by encouraging South Korean soldiers to aim their guns at the North. A North Korean military statement warned US soldiers to stop what it called “hooliganism” at the border village of Panmunjom or meet a “dog’s death any time and any place.”

The US and South Korean militaries had no immediate official response.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2016