US citizen sentenced to six years in prison with labor by North Korean court

An American citizen detained in North Korea this past April was sentenced to six years in prison with labor by that country's Supreme Court Sunday.

Matthew Miller, 24, of Bakersfield, Calif., was found guilty of entering North Korea illegally and trying to commit an act of espionage. The court said that Miller tore up his tourist visa at Pyongyang's airport when he entered the country on April 10 and intended to ""experience prison life so that he could investigate the human rights situation."

In an interview with the Associated Press published August 1, Miller said that he expected to be sent to prison, adding "I have been requesting help from the American government, but have received no reply." It was not immediately clear whether his comments were his own or had been coerced by his captors.

Carol Stewart, a neighbor of Miller's in Bakersfield, told the Associated Press in July that Miller first traveled to South Korea about four years ago to visit a brother stationed there with the U.S. Air Force. He found work teaching English and learned Korean. She has since declined to comment out of respect for his parents' wishes.

A trial is also expected soon for Jeffrey Fowle, 56, who entered the North as a tourist but was arrested in May for leaving a Bible at a provincial club. A third American, Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae, is serving out a 15-year sentence for alleged "hostile acts."

The U.S. has repeatedly offered to send its envoy for North Korean human rights issues, Robert King, to Pyongyang to seek a pardon for Bae and other U.S. detainees, but without success.