North Korea Sentences Canadian Pastor To Life In Prison With Hard Labor

Hyeon Soo Lim, who pastors the Light Korean Presbyterian Church west of Toronto, was sentenced to life in prison with hard labour by North Korea’s Supreme Court for what it called crimes against the state.

“Canada is dismayed at the unduly harsh sentence given to Mr. Lim by a North Korean court, particularly given his age and fragile health”, Canada’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Chinese Embassy in Pyongyang has denied some South Korean media reports that North Korea recently arrested about 100 Chinese citizens living in the reclusive state on alleged suspicions of espionage.

Mr Lim admitted during the trial to “not only viciously defaming the highest dignity of Korea and its system but also possessing the wicked intention of trying to topple the Republic by staging an anti-state conspiracy”, KCNA said. The prosecution sought the death penalty, but the defence asked for leniency despite the gravity of his crimes “so that he can witness for himself the reality of the nation of the Sun as it grows in power and prosperity”, KCNA said.

Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday that North Korea has not returned an answer, but that he sincerely hoped a mutually convenient date would be reached as soon as possible, Yonhap reported.

Lim was detained by the North Korean authorities in January after arriving from China.

“The capitulation on that issue at the previous press conference in the DPRK, therefore, was curious”, church spokeswoman Lisa Pak said in an email.

North Korea has warned the United States of “unimaginable consequences” from its “hostile” policy toward the nuclear armed state, urging Washington to accept its long-standing demand for a peace treaty.

The Canadian government also declined to comment.

According to his family, his visits to North Korea were to support a nursing home, nursery, and orphanage.

Prime Minister Justine Trudeau told reporters he was “very concerned” by the sentence, adding that Canada would continue to push for access to Lim.

But behind the scenes, the Canadian government waged an aggressive campaign to win Lim’s freedom, according to a source with knowledge of the proceedings.

In June, the North’s highest court sentenced two South Koreans accused of spying for Seoul to hard labour for life.

Bae, who had been convicted of plotting to overthrow the North Korean regime, was released along with another American detainee as the result of a secret mission to Pyongyang by USA intelligence chief James Clapper.

Last year, Pyongyang released three detained Americans, including Bae and another man who had left a copy of the Bible at a club.

“The trial demonstrated again what kind of miserable fate awaits people like Lim – the followers of the US and South Korean regimes that ceaselessly try to annihilate our socialist system and defame the supreme dignity of our sacred republic”, KCNA said.