MAKING THE CASE

N. Korea Rebukes Jailed American

Claiming Kenneth Bae plotted against the regime.

Kenneth Bae, the Korean-American man who has been detained in North Korea since November and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor, plotted against the Pyongyang regime for several years as evidenced by his past missionary work in China and planned to spread his anti-regime message via a base in Rason City, North Korea. That is, of course, according to the hermit nation, which gave more details, Friday, on the charges against Bae—which have thus far been murky to say the least. North Korea has long viewed missionary work as a threat and Bae is hardly the first American to be arrested for participating in such activities. Pyongyang has recently insisted that Bae’s detainment is not a ploy to gain an upper hand in talks with the U.S.