The US on Thursday called for immediate release of its citizen Kenneth Bae by North Korea, a day after he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour imprisonment.
“We understand that a DPRK court convicted US citizen Kenneth Bae for hostile acts against the country and sentenced him to 15 years of compulsory labour.”
“There is no greater priority for us than the welfare and safety of US citizens abroad, and we urge the DPRK authorities to grant Bae amnesty and immediate release,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.
DPRK or Democratic People Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.
Ventrell said the US is concerned about the transparency and due process in North Korea, and that he should be released.
“What we’re doing is urging the DPRK authorities to release him. We’ll continue to seek access through our Swedish protecting power. We have ways of communicating with the DPRK if necessary, but right now, we’re urging them to release Mr Bae,” Ventrell said.
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters travelling with the US President to Mexico that the US and its international partners have made clear that there is a path open to the North Koreans which allows for negotiations.
“But it is dependent upon the North Koreans demonstrating a willingness to live up to their international obligations in keeping with the September 2005 joint statement of the six-party talks.”
“If they choose that path, then we and other members of the six-party talks are absolutely willing to have discussions with the North Koreans,” Carney said.
“But thus far they have flouted their obligations, engaged in provocative actions and rhetoric that brings them no closer to a situation where they can improve the lot of North Korean people or reenter the community of nations,” he alleged.