--- description: Kenneth Bae spoke out Monday morning in a rare interview since his release from North Korea title: Kenneth Bae Did Hard Labor During North Korean Imprisonment image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91bb60c2a7e17bfe/69889163e20a876f37a90a71/kenneth-bae-north-korea.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Kenneth Bae Recalls Hard Labor During North Korea Imprisonment  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 2, 2016 2:31 PM CUT  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 2, 2016 2:31 PM CUT Kenneth Bae [spoke out](http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/02/us/kenneth-bae-interview/ "undefined") Monday morning in a rare interview [since his release](http://time.com/3573993/north-korea-detainees-kenneth-bae-matthew-todd-miller/ "undefined") from North Korea, describing his long days of hard labor during his imprisonment in the isolated country. “I worked from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at night, working on the field, carrying rock, shoveling coal,” Bae told CNN of his captivity from 2012 to November 2014\. Bae had been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for carrying out “hostile acts” against the country, and was the U.S. citizen [detained for the longest](http://time.com/3575237/dennis-rodman-north-korea-prisoner-kenneth-bae-kim-jong-un/ "undefined") in North Korea since the Korean War. Bae had worked for a tour company that took people into North Korea, and was arrested in 2012 during one of those trips. Bae also said Monday that his captors caused him anguish by repeatedly telling him, “No one remembers you. You have been forgotten by people, your government. You’re not going home anytime soon.” \[[_CNN_](http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/02/us/kenneth-bae-interview/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4314020/kenneth-bae-north-korea-interview/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4314020/kenneth-bae-north-korea-interview/"},"headline":"Kenneth Bae Recalls Hard Labor During North Korea Imprisonment","datePublished":"2016-05-02T14:31:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:57:07.662Z","description":"\"I worked from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at night\"","url":"https://time.com/4314020/kenneth-bae-north-korea-interview/","keywords":["North Korea","Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91bb60c2a7e17bfe/69889163e20a876f37a90a71/kenneth-bae-north-korea.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt91bb60c2a7e17bfe/69889163e20a876f37a90a71/kenneth-bae-north-korea.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Kenneth Bae","caption":"Kenneth Bae, an American tour guide and missionary serving a 15-year sentence, detained in North Korea in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sept. 1, 2014.","creditText":"Wong Maye-E—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4314020/kenneth-bae-north-korea-interview/","name":"Kenneth Bae Recalls Hard Labor During North Korea Imprisonment"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"\"I worked from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at night\"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4314020/kenneth-bae-north-korea-interview/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4314020/kenneth-bae-north-korea-interview/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```