North Korea's Supreme Court on Wednesday sentenced a Canadian Christian pastor to life in prison with hard labor for "crimes against the state" and using "subversive plots" to overthrow the regime of Kim Jong-un.
Hyeon Soo Lim, a 60-year-old head pastor at the Light Korean Presbyterian Church in Toronto, has been detained since February and was sentenced on Wednesday after a 90-minute trial, reported The Associated Press.
Lim was charged with attempting to overthrow the North Korean government, harming the dignity of the supreme leader, undermining its social system with "religious activities" for the past 18 years and disseminating propaganda about the North to other Koreans living overseas, according to AP. He was also accused of helping South Korean and U.S. authorities abduct North Korean citizens and assisting defectors from the North.
Lim admitted during the trial to "not only viciously defaming the highest dignity of Korea and its system but also possessing the wicked intention of trying to topple the Republic by staging an anti-state conspiracy," reported Reuters, citing Pyongyang's KCNA news agency.
At a news conference organized by North Korean authorities in July, Lim also admitted to plotting to overthrow the government. Other foreigners who have been detained and released from the North have said they were coerced into making similar false statements during their detention.
Lim was arrested in Pyongyang earlier this year after traveling to the country for routine missionary work, something he has done more than 100 times since 1997. Lim's relatives said he was not involved in political activism but solely involved with helping people at a nursing home, orphanage and a nursery. North Korea reportedly bans religious activity, as it is seen as a threat to the ruling regime, according to BBC.
One Canadian source familiar with Lim's detention told Reuters that there was no reason to believe the charges were true and claimed that the trial was scripted.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he is "very concerned" about the North's sentencing. "We have tremendous concern about it," Trudeau told reporters outside the House of Commons, according to The Telegraph. "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."
Diana Khaddaj, a spokeswoman for Canada's Global Affairs Department, said that Canadian officials "have not been able to meet with him to verify his health and well-being. The trial was our first opportunity to see him. This is a serious violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the right of states to have consular access to their citizens."
