Mr. Bae was detained in November and sentenced late last month to 15 years of hard labor for unspecified “hostile acts.” North Korea has denied he is being used as a bargaining chip to extract concessions from the U.S. or a visit from a public figure to secure his release.
In a report from the state media agency attributed to a spokesman for its supreme court, North Korea said Mr. Bae was dispatched to China in 2006 by a missionary group, where he supposedly set up “plot-breeding bases” over the following six years.
North Korea claimed Mr. Bae gave lectures against the Pyongyang leadership and visited churches in the U.S. and South Korea to spread an anti-regime message. The apparent next phase of his plan, according to North Korea, was to set up a base in Rason City, inside the North.
It was at Rason that Mr. Bae was first held late last year, where North Korea says he was caught with anti-regime literature. North Korea also accused him of having produced videos aimed to encourage people to oppose the government, the report said.
Verification of most of the North’s claims wasn’t possible, although website nknews.org reported earlier this week on Mr. Bae’s missionary links and his dispatch to China in 2006.
While the exact nature and extent of Mr. Bae’s alleged activities are unclear, North Korea’s characterization of them and its repetition of a message that it isn’t using him as a negotiating tool make near-term prospects for release uncertain.
North Korea has in recent years detained and released other Americans who have entered the country to do missionary work, which is viewed as a threat to the regime.
North Korea’s account of Mr. Bae’s activities appears more serious than previous cases, however. In its account, the North said Mr. Bae had be liable for the death penalty or life imprisonment but received a reduced penalty for confessing to the allegations against him.
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