North Korea has sentenced Canadian Pastor to Life in Jail

North Korea has sentenced Canadian pastor, Hyeon Soo Lim, to life in prison on the count of "subversion." Lim was detained in North Korea for 10 months prior to this sentencing.

Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, reported, according to CNN that the Reverend was found guilty of disseminating false propaganda. Lim's official punishment is a lifetime of labor. The prosecution was seeking the death penalty.

The agency wrote, "The supreme court announced that Lim was guilty of joining the United States and South Korea in anti-DPRK human rights 'racket' and fabricating and circulating false propaganda materials tarnishing the country's image."

Canada has condemned the sentencing, stating that the punishment is "unduly harsh," Reuters reported. The Canadian government also stated that they could not get access to Lim during his detainment.

"This is a serious violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and the right of states to have consular access to their citizens," spokeswoman Diana Khaddaj said.

The sentencing comes after Lim confessed to the wrongdoings in statement that he read during a news conference in July.

"The purpose that I traveled about several parts of the country on the pretext of 'aid' was to build a base to overthrow the system of the country and create a religious state, taking advantage of the policies of the U.S. and South Korean authorities," Lim had said, according to The Associated Press.

One month later, North Korea released a video confession in which Lim stated, "My biggest crime is my act of blindness in severely insulting the highest dignity and system, the DPRK." The confession was made at the Pyongyang church.

Many Westerners believed that the confessions were coerced.

Lim, 60, made the trip to North Korea from China on January 30 on a humanitarian trip, which his family said was routine. His family added that Lim, who is originally from South Korea but is a Canadian citizen, had visited North Korea at least 100 times.

Back home in Toronto, Lim was the minister of the Light Korean Presbyterian Church, which has about 3,000 members.