Tagged: North Korea

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Here in the U.S., the largest Korean population is in California. It's actually the largest concentration outside of northeast Asia. People in that community have been especially alarmed by North Korea's recent threats. But as Doualy Xaykaothao reports from Los Angeles, many Koreans living there think the North's provocations are mostly bluster.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHATTER)

North Korea has accused an American tourist of committing crimes against the state and trying to bring down the country's regime, according to the North's official news agency.

The KCNA said Saturday that 44-year-old Kenneth Bae, imprisoned since November, confessed to the crimes and would be facing judgement in a North Korean court. He is identified in the report by his Korean name, Pae Jun Ho.

South Korea has ordered the withdrawal of its workers from a jointly run industrial zone in North Korea, in a further sign of how relations have gone from bad to worse between the two countries in recent weeks.