In April 2013, North Korea’s Supreme Court sentenced Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae to 15 years’ hard labour for the crime of bringing a computer hard drive into the country from his base in China.

During his incarceration, Bae – who described himself in news reports later as a political pawn used by North Korea – suffered psychological abuse and physical ill-health. Despite his desperate conditions, he kept his faith in God and chose to see the best in the captors who kept him prisoner for over 700 days prior to his release in November 2014.