By Brandon Cottrell
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

PYONGYANG, North Korea – Myunghee Bae, the mother of Kenneth Bae, arrived in North Korea yesterday and planned to meet with Kenneth this morning.  In a statement earlier this week Myunghee said she didn’t “really know what to expect for [her] trip” and that all she wants is to see her son.

Kenneth was arrested in November 2012 as he entered Rason, North Korea.  The North Koreans say Kenneth, a Christian missionary and operator of a tourism business in China, used his business to set up bases for the purpose of toppling the North Korean government.  Kenneth’s trial and conviction occurred during a time of high tension between the US and North Korea, which stemmed from a North Korean nuclear test and a large scale US-South Korea military exercise.

Although tensions have since eased, the North Koreans revoked an invitation to U.S. envoy Robert King, who in August had been scheduled to travel to North Korea and negotiate Kenneth’s release.  All the while, Kenneth’s health has been deteriorating.

Kenneth, who was sentenced to 15years of hard labor but could have been sentenced to death, has been in a hospital for the past two months.  Myunghee says Kenneth is suffering from diabetes, an enlarged heart and back pain, among other ailments.  She also said that when she last saw Kenneth during a video prison interview that “he looked so different and he lost so much weight.  I could not believe that prisoner was my son.”

Myunghee also said that, “As a mother, I worry endlessly about his health” and that she wants “to see him, comfort and hold him in person.  I miss him so much.”  She hopes that through her visit she can encourage Kenneth to hang in there.  She had tried to see him sooner, but North Korea had denied her earlier visitation requests.

In recent years, North Korea has arrested several US citizens.  While North Korea maintains that the arrests resulted from such citizens preaching Christianity or threatening the government, the US claims North Korea is using these detained citizens as “bargaining chips.”  There is still hope Kenneth could be released in the future, as in the past, North Korea has released US citizens after high-profile visits from former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

 

For more information, please see:

ABC News – Kenneth Bae’s Mother in North Korea to Visit Her Imprisoned Son – 11 October 2013

BBC – Jailed US Man Kenneth Bae’s Mother In North Korea Visit – 10 October 2013

CBS News – Kenneth Bae’s Mother Travels To North Korea To Visit Son – 11 October 2013

CNN – Kenneth Bae’s Mother Visits North Korea To See Imprisoned Son – 11 October 2013