瑞典外交官稱爭取被朝鮮關押美國公民獲釋是“工作重點”

With the denial of consular access to two U.S. citizens detained in North Korea continuing for months, the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang, which acts on behalf of the United States, said it is currently making all-out efforts to accelerate their safe return home.

Torkel Stiernlöf, Swedish ambassador to Pyongyang, told VOA this week the communist state's detention of American citizens is one of the embassy's primary concerns.

Over the past year, North Korea locked up two American citizens for crimes against the state. One of the detainees is Kim Dong Chul, a South Korean-born U.S. citizen, was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor in April on charges of espionage and stealing state secrets. Kim has reportedly not been allowed consular access since his arrest.

Kim's sentence came on the heels of a 15-year sentence given to Otto Warmbier, a University of Virginia student suspected of stealing a propaganda poster from a North Korean hotel.

The U.S. State Department is urging U.S. citizens to avoid travel to the North. At least 14 U.S. citizens have been detained in the country in the past 10 years, according to the State Department被朝鮮關押的兩名美國公民已經幾個月未獲準得到領事探視，代表美國利益的瑞典駐平壤大使館表示，目前正在竭盡全力爭取他們獲釋安全返回美國。

瑞典駐平壤大使斯蒂爾尼奧夫本週告訴美國之音說，幫助這些被扣押的美國公民是瑞典大使館的首要任務之一。

過去一年裏，朝鮮以損害國家利益罪判處兩位美國公民監禁。出生於韓國的韓裔美國公民金東柱今年四月以間諜罪和盜竊國家機密罪被判處10年勞教。金東柱據報自從被逮捕後從未獲得領事探視。

金東柱被判刑之前，來自美國維吉尼亞大學的學生奧托· 瓦姆比爾被控盜竊飯店政治宣傳品被判刑15年。

美國國務院呼籲美國公民避免到朝鮮旅行。國務院說，過去10年至少有14名美國人曾被朝鮮扣押。