A Canadian pastor that is serving a life sentence in North Korea for criticizing their leaders has said he is forced to dig holes all day alone in a labour camp.
Reverend Hyeon Soo Lim, aged 60, was sentenced to hard labour for life.
It was revealed that he works at least eight hours a day digging holes in a labour camp.
‘I wasn’t originally a labourer, so the labour was hard at first… But now I’ve gotten used to it,’ Lim, who was born in South Korea, said in an interview with CNN.
He wore a grey prison uniform with the number ‘036’ on his chest during the interview, which took place at a hotel in North Korea’s capital city, Pyongyang.
Lim, who believes his biggest crime was speaking badly of North Korea’s leaders, added: ‘I admit I’ve violated this government’s authority, system and order.’
He told of how he gets three meals a day and regular medical attention but his church in Canada, where he has lived since 1986, claimed he had ‘very high blood pressure’.
They said he visited the North more than 100 times since 1997 and help set up an orphanage and nursing home there.
Read More: Jailed in North Korea, pastor Hyeon Soo Lim hopes to go home to Canada
