North Korea’s Supreme Court has sentenced Kenneth Bae, an American citizen, to 15 years’ hard labor on charges that he committed crimes against the state.

North Korea’s Supreme Court has sentenced Kenneth Bae, an American citizen, to 15 years' hard labor on charges that he committed crimes against the state.

Bae, who was referred to throughout the trial as Pae-Jun-ho, the Korean iteration of his name, was first detained in November and could have been executed for the charge that he conspired to overthrow the government.

It’s been previously reported that Bae entered North Korea legally and often worked to feed starving children. He attended the University of Oregon and previously worked as a tour operator in the US.

The news was first reported by state media before being confirmed by Reuters and other Western outlets.

The exact nature of his crimes is not known, but Bae was arrested in Rason, a special economic zone in North Korea bordering Russia and China, according to the Associated Press.

Korean Central News Agency reported last week that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea had gathered incriminating evidence against Bae.

“In the process of the investigation he admitted that he committed crimes aimed to topple to DPRK with hostility toward it,” it said. “His crimes were proved by evidence.”

Two American journalists were arrested in North Korea in 2009 and sentenced to hard labor for trespassing and hostile acts. After they were held for four months, former US president Bill Clinton traveled to Pyongyang to negotiate their release with former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Bae is the sixth American to be apprehended in North Korea since 2009; the others were released or deported.