Seoul - North Korea sentenced US citizen Matthew Todd Miller to six years hard labour for committing “hostile acts” as a tourist to the isolated country, a statement carried by state media said on Sunday.
Miller, from Bakersfield, California, and in his mid-20s, entered North Korea in April this year whereupon he tore up his tourist visa and demanded Pyongyang grant him asylum, according to a release from state media at the time.
North Korea has yet to announce a trial date for fellow US citizen Jeffrey Fowle, 56, from Miamisburg, Ohio, who was arrested in May this year for leaving a bible under the toilet of a sailor's club in the eastern port city of Chongjin.
US missionary Kenneth Bae has been held by the isolated country since December 2012 and is currently serving a sentence of 15 years hard labour for crimes North Korea said amounted to a plot to overthrow the state.
Reuters