North Korea sentences US citizen to six years hard labour

North Korea has sentenced US citizen Matthew Todd Miller to six years hard labour for committing "hostile acts" as a tourist to the isolated country.

“He committed acts hostile to the DPRK while entering the territory of the DPRK under the guise of a tourist last April,” North Korean state media said in a short statement today.

Mr Miller, from Bakersfield, California and in his mid-20s, entered North Korea in April this year whereupon he tore up his tourist visa and demanded Pyongyang grant him asylum, according to a release from state media at the time.

Photos of the trial released by state media showed some of Mr Miller’s personal possessions, including his passport and North Korean visa - which was ripped.

Mr Miller was also shown sitting in a witness box, flanked by North Korean soldiers.

North Korea has yet to announce a trial date for fellow US citizen Jeffrey Fowle (56), from Miamisburg, Ohio, who was arrested in May this year for leaving a bible under the toilet of a sailor’s club in the eastern port city of Chongjin.

US missionary Kenneth Bae has been held by the isolated country since December 2012 and is serving a sentence of 15 years hard labour for crimes North Korea said amounted to a plot to overthrow the state.