The family of Kenneth Bae doesn’t want America to forget the American now into his ninth month in a North Korean prison.
That’s longer than any other American in recent memory. reports KUOW.
The sad truth is most in the United States aren’t aware he’s imprisoned and still more probably aren’t even aware who he is.
His family in Lynnwood, Washington wants to tell anyone willing to listen.
“All I know is my brother is a good man,” his sister Terri Chung said. “He has a huge heart to help people in the nation of North Korea. He is religious, and his religious convictions may have been overzealous and may have been deemed, and seen, as hostile against the state.”
Bae has gone to North Korea a lot since 2006 as both a tour operator and Christina missionary. He was arrested in November and then convicted of hostile crimes against the government. Those crimes have never been specified.
His family speaks with the State Department weekly and the U.S. has assured the family its doing everything it can to get him released.
The toughest moment for the family during the nine months of captivity was in May when CNN aired a video of Bae.
“He looks so sad and panicked,” his mother Myunghee Bae said. “He’s not my son I remember. He looks totally broken. It’s the worst moment of my life.”
You can read more about what the family is going through on KUOW.
