Sound Stories. Sound Voices.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
You are on the KUOW archive site. Click here to go to our current site.

Kenneth Bae's Mother Describes 'Heavenly' Reunion

AP Photo/The Choson Sinbo, Mun Kwang Son
In North Korea, prisoners don't get to see their families; going to prison means disappearing for a long time. But authorities there made a rare exception Kenneth Bae and his mother, Myunghee Bae.

The mother of a Lynnwood man sentenced to 15 years hard labor in North Korea has spoken about their emotional reunion when she visited him in prison.Myunghee Bae told the BBC's Lucy Williamson it was difficult leaving her son Kenneth in Pyongyang after seeing him for the first time since his arrest last November.

"I really tried not to cry and contain myself but my heart was aching when I saw him with a hospital garment, confined in small space," she said.

Watch the interview on BBC.co.uk