North Korea calls Canada, Trudeau’s reaction to jailed pastor ‘malicious slander’

North Korea called the reaction of Canadian officials who criticized the life sentence of a Toronto pastor, “malicious slander.”

Hyeon Soo Lim, the pastor at the Light Korean Presbyterian Church in Toronto, was sentenced to life in prison with hard labour by North Korea’s Supreme Court last week after a 90-minute trial for what the court called crimes against the state.

READ MORE: North Korea sentences Canadian pastor to life

“Issues about North Korea’s governance and judicial system are well-known,” Trudeau told reporters last week in Ottawa.

“We are very concerned about someone being sentenced to life in North Korea and we certainly hope to be able to engage with this individual and stand up for his rights.”

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On Tuesday, a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman lashed out against Canadian officials in a quote to Korea’s KCNA news agency.

“Public officials of Canada, including its premier, have been rashly unleashing malicious slander against our republic about the hard labor for life sentence against him,” a North Korean spokesman said according to Reuters.

“We cannot suppress outrage that the Canadian government dares to pick a quarrel with our fair and just judicial decision speaking of ‘concern’ and ‘violation of international law’ when its citizen has committed a vicious crime against us.”

READ MORE: Toronto pastor detained in North Korea makes first appearance, admits guilt

Soo Lim, who is the pastor at one of Canada’s largest churches, was charged with a number of crimes including harming the dignity of the supreme leadership, using religion to destroy the North Korean system and disseminating negative propaganda about the North. He’s also accused of helping U.S. and the South Korean authorities lure and abduct North Korean citizens, along with aiding their programs to assist defectors from the North.

Prosecutors had original asked for the death penalty in the case.

Lim’s relatives and colleagues have said he travelled to North Korea on Jan. 31 as part of a regular humanitarian mission in support of a nursing home, a nursery and an orphanage. Lim, who is in his early 60s, has made more than 100 trips to North Korea since 1997 and has said his trips are about helping people and are not political.

*With files from the Associated Press