US student Otto Warmbier has
been given 15 years hard labour in North Korea for crimes against the state.
Warmbier, 21, was arrested for
trying to steal a propaganda sign from a hotel while visiting North Korea in
January.
He later appeared on state TV
apparently confessing and saying a church group had asked him to bring back a
"trophy" from his trip.
North Korea at times uses the
detention of foreigners as a means of exerting pressure on its adversaries.
The BBC's Stephen Evans in
South Korea says the 15-year sentence is high compared to those given to
foreigners in the past.
This could be due to the
particularly high tensions at the moment between North Korea and the US, he
says.
North Korean state news agency
KCNA said Warmbier was convicted under an article of the criminal code relating
to subversion. The verdict was handed down by the Supreme Court.
Warmbier, a student at the
University of Virginia, was arrested on 2 January as he was trying to leave North
Korea. He was accused of committing "hostile acts".
KCNA said at the time he had
gone to North Korea "to destroy the country's unity" and that he had
been "manipulated" by the US government.
At the end of February, at a
tearful press conference in Pyongyang, he said he had "committed the crime
of taking down a political slogan from the staff holding area of the Yanggakdo
International Hotel".
"The aim of my task was to
harm the motivation and work ethic of the Korean people. This was a very
foolish aim," he was quoted as saying.
He said it was the "worst
mistake" of his life.
North Korea detainees often
recant their confessions once out of the country.
US tourism to North Korea is
legal but the US State Department strongly advises against it.