U.S. citizen Kenneth Bae spoke to pro - North Korea activist Choson Kim . In interview , he asked for her and North Korea 's government to release him . Bae appears thinner and breaks down when reminded of his father . Ling and Lee had been arrested while reporting from the North Korean-Chinese border on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign and sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp . Bae was sentenced five years of hard labor in North Korea .
U.S. citizen Kenneth Bae spoke to pro - North Korea activist Choson Kim . In interview , he asked for her and North Korea 's government to release him . Bae appears thinner and breaks down when reminded of his father . Bae was sentenced five years of hard labor in North Korea .