Alleged American spy arrested in North Korea

Meanwhile Mr Kim told CNN he spied on behalf of “South Korean conservative elements” and was arrested in October.

Mr Kim had told her he was sending medical aid into North Korea and going in and out of Rason, a North Korean special economic zone bordering China, she said.

He stressed that his statements were not pre-scripted by authorities in Pyongyang, and that Western media is guilty of “misunderstanding” North Korea’s policies.

The Canadian citizen, Hyeon Soo Lim, who was born in South Korea, was the head pastor at one of Canada’s largest churches.

Lim was sentenced to life imprisonment in December past year for trying to overthrow the North Korean government through his religious activities.

Interviewed by CNN at a Pyongyang hotel, Lim said he digs holes six days a week in an orchard at a labour camp where he has seen no other prisoners. “I hope the Canadian government can take advantage of this opportunity and this window and see if they can find a way to get him back”.

One expert indicated that North Korea intends to use this for domestic politics, saying the US has dispatched its officials to rescue its citizen, as in the case of Kenneth Bae.

“I admit I’ve violated this government’s authority, system and order”, he added.

Recommended: Kim 101: How well do you know North Korea’s leaders? .

Following North Korea’s alleged Hydrogen bomb test, Kim Jong-Un’s nuclear ambitions were criticized all over the world.

In Washington, a State Department official refused to confirm the story.

“The North is criticizing our president by name”, a Defense Ministry official said, referring to North Korea’s border broadcasts being aired at some 10 locations along the tensely guarded shared border.

Troops have been placed on the highest level of alert, American B-52s are flying near North Korea’s border in a show of force and the government is considering sending additional weapons to allies in the region, specifically neighboring South Korea. “I pray for North and South Korea to be unified so a situation like mine won’t happen again”.

CNN says that North Korea also provided a copy of Kim’s American passport.

Kim defended last week’s explosion as “a self-defensive step” meant to protect the Korean peninsula “from the danger of nuclear war caused by the U.S.-led imperialists”, according to a report Sunday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

And no, it is not former National Basketball Association star Dennis Rodman, who spent some quality time with the young North Korean dictator a couple of years ago. “I think the main way to do that is with a peace treaty”, he told CNN.