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A South Korea-born Canadian pastor was sentenced to lifetime labor for subversion, the supreme court of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced Wednesday.
The 60-year-old Hyeon Soo Lim, who was born in Seoul, was accused of trying to overthrow the DPRK government and undermining its social system through conducting religious activities over the past 18 years.
The supreme court announced that Lim was guilty of joining the United States and South Korea in anti-DPRK human rights "racket" and fabricating and circulating false propaganda materials tarnishing the country's image.
He was also accused of funding and helping "defectors" to escape from the DPRK. He is said to have talked to U.S. ambassador to Mongolia on plans to get "defectors" out via Mongolia.
Witnesses gave testimonies, and short video clips featuring Lim's lecture talking about the "collapse" of the DPRK and "terror politics" were presented to the court.
Lim confessed to all the crimes he was convicted of and showed deep remorse in the court. He said he had received education from family and school in his early childhood that fostered his resentment and hatred for the DPRK government.
The supreme court said considering Lim has reflected on and confessed to what he did, the court decided to sentence him to lifetime hard labor.
The Light Korean Presbyterian Church from which Lim came, reported in early March that Lim went to the DPRK in January and did not return as scheduled in February. He was said to have traveled to the DPRK many times to offer humanitarian aid.
The DPRK's official KCNA news agency reported in July that Lim was detained by the authorities and that he had admitted attempts to topple the social system of the DPRK.
In November 2012, Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American missionary, was arrested for "committing hostile acts against the DPRK" after entering Rason City as a tourist and was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.
But the DPRK authorities released him in November 2014, together with Matthew Todd Miller, another U.S. citizen who tore his visa upon arrival at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport in an alleged attempt to seek asylum in the country and who later was sentenced to six years of hard labor for committing "acts hostile" to the DPRK.
