US missionary jailed in North Korea ‘alone and ailing’, writes mother
Kenneth Bae, held prisoner in North Korea, is isolated and desperate for contact with the outside world, mother says in newspaper article
The mother of jailed US missionary Kenneth Bae, who is serving a 15-year sentence for state subversion in North Korea, said her son remained isolated and was desperate for contact with the outside world a year after he was first detained.
Myunghee Bae, in an article published in the Seattle Times, provided details about her October visit to the Pyongyang hospital where her son, who is diabetic, was recovering from health ailments that saw him lose 50 pounds in three months.
“It pained me to see how starved he was for a connection to home and the outside world, alone and ailing in a foreign prison,” Bae wrote in the piece, published on Sunday. “I tried to reassure him that he was not forgotten.
“He has been isolated for one year without anybody to talk to other than his guards and doctors. I could not imagine how hard that must have been for Kenneth, who has always been so outgoing and talkative,” she wrote.
Kenneth Bae, 45, was detained last November 3 as he led a tour group through the northern region of the country. The country’s Supreme Court said he used his tourism business to form groups aimed at overthrowing the government, and in May sentenced him to 15-years hard labour.
A devout Christian, Bae has acknowledged he conducted religious services in North Korea, which has long been hostile to Westerners advocating religious causes.