A Seattle-area man who has been detained in a labor camp in North Korea for allegedly committing hostile acts against the government has been transferred to a hospital for his weakening medical condition, causing his family even more urgency to get him released back to the U.S.
Kenneth Bae, 45, was sentenced by North Korean officials in May to 15 years of hard labor. He has already been held for 281 days working in fields weeding and planting. On Sunday, his family was notified that he was he transferred to a hospital after losing more than 50 pounds and suffering from diabetes, an enlarged heart, liver problems, and back pain.
Bae, a father of three, was born in South Korea and immigrated to the U.S. in 1985 with his family. Working as a tour operator and Christian missionary, he has been living in China for the past seven years.
The Associated Press reports that a few years ago he gave a sermon promoting a mass prayer session about unifying North and South Korea, which officials suspect is the government’s reason for arresting him. His sister, Terri Chung, also thinks his Christian religion had something to do with it.
An ambassador from Sweden met visited Bae at the hospital Friday. Sweden represents the U.S. in North Korea because the U.S. has no official diplomatic relations there.
Bae’s family is urgently working to get him back into the country, but do not feel like the U.S. government has been helping them enough. Bae’s son started a petition for his father on Change.org, which has already received nearly 1,000 signatures.
I firmly believe he will come home, and not in 15 years. I hold onto faith in my God and in my government,” Chung said, according to King 5. “We’re hoping what little noise we’re making in this corner of Seattle will spread. In the end, it’s not up to us. We feel completely hopeless.”