Washington is calling on officials in Pyongyang to grant amnesty to Kenneth Bae, a tour operator from Washington state who was arrested in November for alleged anti-government crimes.
If the past is any guide, North Korea is hoping the sentencing will trigger a high-profile US mission to negotiate Bae’s release.
Jeffrey Bader, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a former advisor to President Obama says sending a delegation would only encourage more “bad behavior” from Pyongyang.