Kenneth Bae (born Bae Jun-ho; born August 1, 1968) is a South Korean-born American Evangelical Christian missionary. Convicted by North Korea on charges of planning to overthrow the government, he was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in April 2013. Bae was released on November 8, 2014, along with fellow American Matthew Todd Miller.
In 2016, he founded the NGO named NGI - Nehemiah Global Initiative, whose goals consist of remembering, rescuing, and recovering North Korean refugees and rebuilding their lives in China and South Korea.
Early life
Bae was born in South Korea in 1968. He moved to the United States at age 16 with his family in 1985, first settling in San Jose, California then later relocating to Torrance, California, in the Los Angeles district. Bae (as Jun Ho Bae) graduated from West High School in Torrance in 1988, when he was 20 years old. He studied at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon for two years, majoring in psychology and minoring in Chinese in preparation for possible ministerial work in China. Bae left schooling all together for a time in order to support his family. Later, he studied at the San Francisco Bible College, graduating in 1996, as well as at Covenant Theological Seminary, where he earned a Master's of Divinity degree in 2002.
Career and personal life
Bae met his wife, Lydia, two weeks after starting at the University of Oregon, and got married a year later. He had his first child with Lydia, a son named Jonathan, in 1990, as well as a daughter, Natalie, in 1996. Bae later moved to Dalian, China in 2006, and then to Dandong, China, near neighboring North Korea.
Bae lived in Lynnwood, Washington, in Snohomish County. Bae has a sister, Terri Chung, who is stated to live in Lynnwood and in Edmonds, which is also in Snohomish County.
As of January 2014, Bae is the father of two children in Arizona and of another child in Hawaii, ages 17, 22 and 23. Bae also has at least one stepdaughter.
Working with YWAM's University of the Nations, Bae lived in China with his wife and his step-daughter for seven years. He created a tourism company called "Nations Tour" for North Korean special economic zone visits that were stated to be Christian missionary trips.
Arrest and prosecution
In December 2012, human rights activists in Seoul reported that an American had been held in North Korea for a month. On December 21, 2012, North Korea announced that it had charged an American identified as Bae Jun-ho with "hostile acts against the republic." Between January 7 and January 10, former UN ambassador Bill Richardson was unable to meet Bae and delivered a letter from Bae's son to North Korean authorities.
North Korean media stated Bae was prosecuted with: Working with evangelical organization Youth with a Mission (YWAM) and its missionary training center, the University of the Nations; Bae is accused of preaching against the North Korean government in American and South Korean churches. Planning an anti-North Korean religious coup d'état called "Operation Jericho" (a reference to the biblical city whose walls were toppled by the sound of the Israelites' trumpets), which began in the US, South Korea, and China long before Bae traveled to North Korea. Setting up bases in China for the purpose of toppling the DPRK. Encouraging North Korean citizens to bring down the government. Conducting a malignant smear campaign.
On April 30, 2013, North Korea's Supreme Court sentenced Bae to 15 years of hard labor.
Prison life
On May 14, 2013, he was moved to a special prison. Bae would do eight hours of farm labor a day.
Bae sent hand-written letters to his family claiming that he was going blind and that help was needed. On July 3, 2013, an interview with Bae was released, in which he spoke of health problems including diabetes, high blood pressure, fatty liver, and a back problem. When asked if prison life was bearable, he replied: "Yes, people here are very considerate. But my health is not in the best condition, so there are some difficulties. But, everyone here is considerate and generous, and we have doctors here, so I'm getting regular check-ups." A Swedish ambassador met with Bae in a hospital in August 2013; his sister reported that he was moved from the camp because of deteriorating health and after losing more than . Bae's mother, Myunghee Bae, arrived in North Korea on October 11 to visit her son for five days. She was allowed three visits, totaling six hours. In February 2014, Bae left the hospital and returned to the work camp.