Thursday, December 17, 2015

Canadian Pastor Gets Life Imprisonment in North Korea

North Korea sentenced a Canadian pastor to a life of hard labour yesterday for "activities against the state".

Reverend Lim Hyeon-soo, 60, was issued the life sentence by North Korea's Supreme Court after being accused of "subversive plots" to overthrow the regime of Kim Jong-un.

Mr Lim was born in South Korea, but leads a Toronto church.

Justin Trudeau, Canada's prime minister, says he is "very concerned" about North Korea's sentencing of Canadian pastor Hyeon Soo Lim to life in prison with hard labor.

We have tremendous concern about it," Mr Trudeau told reporters outside the House of Commons. "The issues of North Korea's governance and judicial system are well-known and we are very concerned about someone being sentenced to life in North Korea."

He was arrested in Pyongyang earlier this year after travelling to the country for missionary work.

His church, the Light Korean Presbyterian Church, has organised numerous humanitarian trips to North Korea over the past two decades.

He arrived in North Korea with colleagues on 31 January. His family said his intention was to aid an orphanage and nursing home.

At a video-taped news conference Mr Lim confessed to plotting to create a "religious state".

According to a state news agency, he admitted to conspiring with the US and South Korea to overthrow Mr Kim "with the love of God".

Mr Lim is just the latest missionary to be imprisoned by the North Korean regime, though his sentence exceeds those of other westerners jailed in recent years.