North Korea's court has sentenced a South Korean Christian missionary to a sort of life imprisonment, saying he is convicted of several crimes such as "state subversion, espionage," Pyongyang's media reported Saturday.
The North's Supreme Court held a trial for Kim Jong-uk on Friday, with "people of various circles" in attendance as observers, according to the state news agency, KCNA.
It described Kim as an agent of South Korea's state intelligence agency who infiltrated Pyongyang to carry out hostile acts against the communist nation.
"The accused admitted to all his crimes: he committed anti-DPRK (North Korea) religious acts, malignantly hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK overseas," KCNA said in an English-version report.
It accused Kim of having illegally entered the North for the purpose of setting up an underground church and gathering information about Pyongyang's internal affairs.
That's why he was sentenced to "life (at) hard labor," it said.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service has insisted that Kim, who was arrested by the North's authorities in October, is not its agent.
He is known to have worked as a missionary in the Chinese border town of Dandong. His age and other personal details have not been made public.