An American tour guide faces the death penalty in North Korea after allegedly taking photographs of orphans begging in the street.
Kenneth Bae was arrested in November while leading a group of tourists through the rogue state's Rason Special Economic Zone and later admitted to committing 'crimes aimed to topple the DPRK,' according to a Korean news agency.
The exact reasons for his arrest have not been confirmed by North Korea but sources in the country say he is accused of photographing starving children.
Identified in North Korea’s state media by his Korean name, Pae Jun Ho, Mr Bae is a tour operator of Korean descent.
He is the sixth American detained in the secretive country since 2009. The other Americans were eventually deported or released after high-profile diplomatic interventions, including some involving former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
Analysts say the North will likely soon hand Mr Bae a harsh punishment to use him as a bargaining chip in possible negotiations with the United States.
In 2009, American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were arrested and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for trespassing and unspecified hostile acts. They were freed later that year after former President Bill Clinton visited Pyongyang to negotiate their release.
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‘The preliminary inquiry into crimes committed by American citizen Pae Jun Ho closed,’ the official Korean Central News Agency said in a brief report. ‘In the process of investigation he admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple the DPRK with hostility toward it. His crimes were proved by evidence.’
Under North Korea's criminal code, terrorist acts include murdering, kidnapping and injuring the country's citizens can lead to a death sentence or life in jail.
Tensions between North Korea and the US have remained high since the state expressed outrage over a February nuclear test and ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills.
Rogue: Led by Kim Jong Un, pictured, North Korea has indicted Mr Bae on charges of plotting to overthrow the government
Ruling: North Korea says it will soon deliver a verdict in the case of Mr Bae (pictured, Pyongyang's Supreme Court)
North Korea and the United States fought the 1950-53 Korean War and still do not have diplomatic relations. The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents the United States.
North Korea's state media and the U.S. government have made little information about Mr Bae public.
But his friends, colleagues and South Korean activists specializing in North Korea affairs said he is a Christian missionary based in a Chinese border town who frequently made trips to North Korea to feed orphans there. It is not known whether he tried to evangelize while in North Korea.
Officially, North Korea guarantees freedom of religion. In practice, authorities crack down on Christians, who are seen as Western-influenced threats to the government. The distribution of Bibles and secret prayer services can mean banishment to a labor camp or execution, defectors from the country have said.