N. Korea says detained American disguised identity

Published May 05, 2013

Associated Press

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  FILE - This 1988 file photo provided by Bobby Lee shows Kenneth Bae, right, and Bobby Lee together when they were freshmen students at the University of Oregon. Bae, detained for nearly six months in North Korea, has been sentenced to 15 years of labor for crimes against the state.AP/The Register-Guard, Bobby Lee

SEOUL, South Korea –  North Korea on Sunday revealed a few more details about a Korean-American recently sentenced to 15 years' hard labor, saying he entered the country with a disguised identity. Pyongyang also rejected speculation that it intends to use Kenneth Bae as a bargaining chip.

In remarks carried by state media, an unidentified Foreign Ministry spokesman did not specify the Washington state man's crimes but said he confessed. He said Bae entered North Korea "with a disguised identity in an intentional way under the back-stage manipulation of the forces hostile toward" the country.

Bae, 44, was arrested in early November in Rason, a special economic zone in North Korea's far northeastern region bordering China and Russia, according to the North's state media. The exact nature of Bae's alleged crimes has not been revealed.

Friends say Bae is a devout Christian and tour operator based in China who traveled frequently to North Korea to feed orphans. Six other Americans have been detained in North Korea since 2009; they eventually were deported or released, some after trips by prominent Americans including Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

The North Korean spokesman dismissed as "ridiculous and wrong" speculation by foreign media that Pyongyang intends to use Bae as a bargaining chip. He said the "generosity" the country showed in past cases "will be of no use in ending Americans' illegal acts."

North Korea "has no plan to invite anyone of the U.S. as regards Pae's issue," the spokesman said. Pyongyang refers to Bae as Pae Jun Ho, the North Korean spelling for his Korean name.

Bae's sentencing last week came as tension remains on the Korean Peninsula following weeks of warlike rhetoric from Pyongyang and threats to attack the U.S. and South Korea. The U.S. has called for the North to grant amnesty and immediately release Bae.

The U.S. and North Korea officially remain at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

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Oscar-nominated Palestinian documentary director detained briefly at LAX

LOS ANGELES –  Immigration officials briefly detained the Palestinian director of the Oscar-nominated documentary "5 Broken Cameras" on his way into town for Sunday's Academy Awards.

Emad Burnat says that when he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport from Turkey with his wife and 8-year-old son late Tuesday, agents told them they didn't have the proper proof that he was a nominee and would send them back if they couldn't verify the reason for their visit. After about an hour of questioning, the agents allowed Burnat and his family to enter the country.

Oscar-winning documentarian Michael Moore said on his website that he helped clear up the matter by making some phone calls on Burnat's behalf.

Burnat had just been in the United States two weeks earlier doing interviews about the film alongside his co-director, Israeli activist Guy Davidi, including some with The Associated Press.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that it is prohibited from discussing specific cases, but noted that in general, "travelers may be referred for further inspection for a variety of reasons to include identity verification, intent of travel and confirmation of admissibility."

Moore, a friend of Burnat's and a champion of his work, wrote on his website, michaelmoore.com, that Burnat texted him from an airport holding area seeking help. Moore said he made a few calls to leaders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who contacted some attorneys to clear up the matter. The Academy did not respond to a request for comment on Burnat's detainment.

"5 Broken Cameras," the first Palestinian documentary ever nominated for an Oscar, already has won awards at the Sundance Film Festival and the Cinema Eye Honors. It features footage that the olive farmer-turned-filmmaker shot using five cameras in his occupied West Bank village of Bil'in, from everyday activities with his family to protests and shootings. The son with whom he is traveling, Gibreel, was the inspiration for buying the first of these cameras in 2005; like so many parents, Burnat wanted to document the boy's first steps and smiles.

But he also found himself wanting to capture the tension and fighting that are daily occurrences in the struggle for territory. In the film, his cameras keep getting destroyed in the violence.

Because of his experiences, Burnat said in a statement Wednesday, he's gotten used to the kind of questioning he and his family underwent at LAX.

"There are more than 500 Israeli checkpoints, roadblocks, and other barriers to movement across our land, and not a single one of us has been spared the experience that my family and I experienced yesterday," he said. "Ours was a very minor example of what my people face every day."

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