N. Korea: Detained American Hid Identity

North Korea today revealed a few more details about a Korean-American recently sentenced to 15 years' hard labor, saying he entered the country with a disguised identity. Pyongyang also rejected speculation that it intends to use Kenneth Bae as a bargaining chip. In remarks carried by state media, a Foreign Ministry spokesman did not specify the Washington state man's crimes but said he confessed. He said Bae entered North Korea "with a disguised identity in an intentional way under the back-stage manipulation of the forces hostile toward" the country.

The exact nature of Bae's alleged crimes has not been revealed. The North Korean spokesman dismissed as "ridiculous and wrong" speculation that Pyongyang intends to use Bae as a bargaining chip. He said the "generosity" the country showed in past cases "will be of no use in ending Americans' illegal acts." North Korea "has no plan to invite anyone of the US as regards (Bae's) issue," the spokesman said.