ICC Note:

North Korea has sentenced Matthew Miller to six years of hard labor for committing “hostile acts.” Miller is an American citizen reportedly ripped up his tourist visa upon arrival at the Pyongyang airport in April. Two other American citizens currently being held by North Korean authorities are Kenneth Bae, a 46-year-old Christian missionary and tourist operator, and Jeffrey Fowle, 56. Bae was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in April 2013. Fowle has not yet stood trial, but was arrested after leaving a Bible in his hotel room while on a tour in the country. Analysts say that Pyongyang is using Miller and two other men as “bargaining chips in its dispute with Washington over its nuclear program.”

09/14/2014 North Korea (The Washington Post) — North Korea has sentenced Matthew Miller to six years of hard labor for committing “hostile acts,” after the American reportedly ripped up his tourist visa upon arrival at the Pyongyang airport in April.

During a show trial that lasted 90 minutes, the Supreme Court found that Miller — who had no legal representation — had committed “acts hostile to the DPRK while entering . . . under the guise of a tourist,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported, using the official abbreviation for North Korea.

Analysts say that Pyongyang is using Miller and two other men as bargaining chips in its dispute with Washington over its nuclear program — but that the United States is preoccupied with the turmoil in the Middle East, where Islamic State extremists are not just capturing Westerners but also beheading them .

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