( CNN ) -- North Korea has rescinded its invitation for a U.S. envoy to visit the secretive nation to discuss the fate of Kenneth Bae , a Korean-American man who is being held there , a State Department official said Sunday . Bae , of Lynwood , Washington , was arrested in November 2012 in Rason , along North Korea 's northeastern coast . Pyongyang sentenced him last year to 15 years of hard labor , accusing him of planning to bring down the government through religious activities . He is widely reported to have been carrying out Christian missionary work in North Korea . Bae , 45 , operated a China-based company specializing in tours of North Korea , according to his family , who have described him as a devout Christian . No reason was given for the trip cancellation . State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki expressed disappointment that Ambassador Robert King 's visit was called off and noted North Korea had said it would n't use Bae as a `` political bargaining trip . '' This is the second time North Korea has canceled a planned visit by King . Bae was moved to a hospital last year after his health deteriorated . But last week the United States said he had been moved back to a labor camp , a development his family described as `` devastating . '' `` We again call on the DPRK to grant Bae special amnesty and immediate release as a humanitarian gesture so he may reunite with his family and seek medical care , '' Psaki said Sunday . `` We will continue to work actively to secure Mr. Bae 's release . '' The Rev . Jesse Jackson , the U.S. civil rights leader , has offered , at the request of Bae 's family , to `` travel to Pyongyang on a humanitarian mission focused on Bae 's release , '' Psaki added . She said that annual joint military exercises by U.S. and South Korean forces , due to begin later this month , are `` in no way linked to Mr. Bae 's case . '' Tensions over exercises . The large military drills anger the nuclear-armed North Korean regime , which says it views them as a prelude to an invasion . Last year , Pyongyang 's threatening rhetoric reached alarming levels during the exercises , heightening tensions in the region . North Korea has been urging the South not to take part in the drills -- a call that Seoul and Washington have rejected . This year 's exercises , involving thousands of U.S. and South Korean troops , will begin February 24 , United States Forces Korea said Monday . One of the exercises , Key Resolve , in which about 5,200 U.S. troops will participate , will run until March 6 . The U.S. military says Key Resolve makes sure forces are prepared to defend South Korea and trains them to `` respond to any potential event on the peninsula . '' The other exercise , Foal Eagle , in which about 7,500 U.S. troops will take part , continues until April 18 . Foal Eagle , according to the U.S. military , is `` a series of joint and combined field training exercises '' that combine ground , air , naval , expeditionary and special operations . United States Forces Korea said the North 's Korean People 's Army had been informed of the dates of the exercises and of `` the non-provocative nature of this training . '' The dates of the drills overlap with planned reunions of families in North and South Korea who were separated by the Korean War in the 1950s . The reunions of about 200 people -- 100 from each country -- are scheduled to take place between February 20 and 25 at a resort on the North 's side of the heavily militarized border . But Pyongyang said last week it may back out of the arrangement -- as it has in the past -- if South Korea goes ahead with the joint military drills with the United States . CNN 's Jamie Crawford and Elise Labott contributed to this report .
NEW : The Rev . Jesse Jackson has offered to go to Pyongyang . Ambassador Robert King was scheduled to visit and discuss Bae 's case . North Korea has held Bae , a Korean-American , since November 2012 . Annual U.S.-South Korean military drills , which anger Pyongyang , begin later this month .