N. Korea Sentences US Man to 6 Years Hard Labor

A 24-year-old American held in North Korea is facing six years of hard labor in a prison camp for spying.

Following a 90-minute trial on Sunday, the country's Supreme Court convicted Matthew Miller from Bakersfield, California, of espionage, accusing him of "hostile acts" against the government.

Miller was arrested in April after reportedly claiming to seek asylum in North Korea.

But prosecutors dismissed Miller's story as nothing more than a ruse, saying his real intent was to investigate the human rights situation in the country.

North Korea is also detaining two other Americans: 56-year-old Jeffrey Fowle and Korean American missionary Kenneth Bae.

The U.S. State Department is calling for their immediate release.

"The charges for which he [Miller] and the other detained U.S. citizens were arrested and imprisoned would not give rise to arrest or imprisonment in the United States or in many other countries around the world," CNN quoted State Department spokesman Darby Holladay.