North Korea sentences Canadian priest to life in prison

A Canadian priest has been sentenced to life in prison with hard labor for propaganda and conspiracy against North Korea's security.

According to North Korean news media reports, on Wednesday, December 16, the country's Supreme Court found Canadian pastor Hyun Soon Lim guilty of charges of attempting to undermine security and conspiring to overthrow the country's political system, and sentenced him to life imprisonment with hard labor after a speedy trial.

Mr. Hyun, a pastor at a Presbyterian church in Toronto, was arrested in North Korea in February of this year and has been imprisoned ever since.

According to church officials, Pastor Hyun Soon Lim had traveled to North Korea more than 100 times since 1979 on humanitarian missions, but news of his arrest emerged in March of this year. According to the report, among the achievements of his trip to North Korea were helping to create several job-generating economic units, including thread factories, wig factories, gas stations, farms and fishing facilities.

The North Korean government has strict laws and regulations regarding religious and missionary activities, and does not tolerate such actions as attempts to undermine the absolute rule of the state. In this country, even placing a copy of the Bible in a public place is considered to be proselytizing Christianity and can lead to arrest and punishment.

Image copyright AP Image caption On Wednesday morning, Hyun was taken to court for a "speedy trial" and sentencing

North Korea is known for extracting and broadcasting confessions from “political criminals,” and in July this year, state television broadcast Mr. Hyun’s confession, in which he admitted all the charges against him. According to North Korean sources, the Canadian pastor was charged with “trying to overthrow the social and political system of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea under the guise of humanitarian activities and gathering information for use in his sermons abroad.” He was also accused of trying to establish a religious organization “to deceive and kidnap the North Korean people.” The kidnappings were apparently intended to help North Korean citizens flee their country.

Mr. Hew also said in his confession that he had contacts with the US and Canadian governments.

In North Korea, public confessions by detainees to a variety of serious political charges are common and are used as the basis for their trials and convictions. Human rights defenders have considered such confessions to be the result of physical and psychological torture of the accused, and lawyers have described judicial sentences issued on this basis as invalid. Foreigners who have been detained and later released in North Korea have said that they were forced to make false confessions against themselves under pressure.

Hyun Soon Lim became a Canadian citizen in 1986. The Canadian government has expressed serious concern about his detention and has requested consular access to him. Canada suspended diplomatic relations with North Korea in 2010 and currently maintains an interests office in the country.