North Korea sentenced a South Korean citizen of American origin to 10 years of hard labor, accusing him of Subversion and espionage, Xinhua news Agency reported on Friday.

Kim Dong-Chul is the second American in North Korea sentenced to prison in the past two months. In March, a student from the University of Virginia, Otto Frederick was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for allegedly removing political banner from the hotel of Pyongyang.

CNN correspondent will Ripley spoke to Kim in January, when he was already in custody for three months awaiting his trial.

Kim said that he moved to Yanji, a Chinese city near the Chinese-North Korean border, which is the center of trade between the two countries. In 2001, Yanji, Kim said that he moved in Rason, a special economic zone for free trade, where he worked as a President of a company involved in international business and hospitality relations.

According to Kim, he was spying on behalf of the "South Korean conservative groups" on the nuclear and military programme of the country. "I put
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