NKorea threatens to ‘never’ release US prisoners

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) – North Korea warned Monday that two American citizens imprisoned in the authoritarian state may “never be able to go back” to the United States.

A commentary by Pyongyang’s official KCNA news agency read like an ultimatum as it criticized Kenneth Bae, who published a book this year about his own incarceration in the North between 2012 and 2014.

“[North Korea] will neither make any compromise nor conduct negotiations with the U.S. over the issue of American criminals nor take any humanitarian measure as long as [Kenneth] Bae keeps spouting invectives against [North Korea],” stated the article, which effectively labeled Bae a traitor for addressing human rights issues in the North.

The commentary also accused American society of encouraging “human scum and half wits” into leading false propaganda.

Bae, a Christian missionary, was released less than two years ago into a 15-year hard labor sentence handed down for perceived hostile activities.

Monday’s KCNA commentary threatened to be tougher on currently imprisoned American pair Otto Warmbier and Kim Dong-chul.

College student Warmbier attracted global headlines earlier this year for allegedly trying to steal a North Korean banner from a hotel while visiting Pyongyang -- like Bae, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

Kim, in his early 60s, is serving a 10-year sentence after being arrested last year and accused of spying on behalf of his country of birth, South Korea.