US Envoy due in North Korea to seek Prisoner Release

{{A senior US envoy is due to arrive in North Korea on Friday to request the release of a US man jailed in the communist state.}}

Robert King, the US special envoy for North Korean rights, is expected to ask for the release of Kenneth Bae, 45, on humanitarian grounds.

Mr Bae, a Korean-American (pictured), was given 15 years’ hard labour in May for trying to overthrow the North Korean government.

Mr King is expected to spend two days in Pyongyang.

“We have not been told that anything is definite,” the US envoy said as he stopped over in Tokyo on Wednesday. “We are going to make an appeal.”

He said Mr Bae “has health problems and we are hopeful that we are going to be able to make progress on that”.

Kenneth Bae’s family say he is seriously ill and has been moved from a labour camp to a hospital. They say he has diabetes and an enlarged heart.

{reuters}