A North Korean sentenced a young American to six years of hard labor for alleged “hostile acts”, without having specified or explained the charges against him, and denying in advance any chance of an appeal.  The US accuses Pyongyang of using detained Americans as pawns in a diplomatic game.

24-year old Matthew Todd Miller of Bakersfield, California went to North Korea as a tourist in April.  But upon arrival, he ripped up his tourist visa and tried to seek asylum in one of the most repressive dictatorships in the world, saying he chose North Korea “as a shelter”.

Earlier this month, North Korean officials allowed Miller and two other detained Americans to speak with reporters, and he said that he “prepared to violate the law of DPRK before coming here.  And I deliberately committed my crime”.  He didn’t specify what crime might have been.  It’s not certain if he spoke freely or under coercion.

North Korea is expected to put Christian missionary Jeffrey Fowle on trial for leaving a Bible at what passes for a bar in the Hermit Kingdom.  A third US-citizen, Kenneth Bae, is doing 15 years for “hostile acts” to over throw the government.

Pyongyang has not specified why it’s hell-bent on holding these men, but it has in the past released prisoners after visits by former US Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.