Americans held in North Korea interviewed by CNN
North Korea allowed three American prisoners to speak briefly with Western reporters Monday. Kenneth Bae, Matthew Miller and Jeffrey Edward Fowle described their time in captivity and appealed in interviews with CNN and the Associated Press. The three said they did not know they were going to be interviewed until immediately beforehand. All said they believe the only solution to their situation is for a U.S. representative to come to North Korea to make a direct appeal.
Who are the three men being held by North Korean authorities?
- Jeffrey Edward Fowle, 56, arrived in North Korea on April 29. He is accused of leaving a Bible in a nightclub in the northern port city of Chongjin. Fowle is from Miamisburg, Ohio, and works in a municipal street department. His wife, Tatyana, is from Russia, and they have three children ages 9, 10 and 12.
- Matthew Miller, 24, of Bakersfield, Calif., was detained as he tried to enter the country April 10, according to Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s state news agency. The agency said that Miller had a tourist visa for North Korea and tore it up and said he was seeking asylum.
- Kenneth Bae, 46, a Korean-American Christian missionary, has been held since being detained in the North Korean city of Rason, on the border with China, in late 2012. He was sentenced to 15 years hard labor on charges of state subversion by trying to establish a proselytizing network inside the country. Bae was born in South Korea and came to the United States as a teenager. He lived for a time in Snohomish County, Wash., where a sister lives. Bae has acknowledged being a missionary and said he conducted services in North Korea, according to an audio sermon and note posted on the website of a Korean Presbyterian church in St. Louis, Reuters reported.
CNN interview with Kenneth Bae
This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid and Relief, Prison Camps by Grant Montgomery.
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[…] defendants Matthew Miller, Jeffrey Fowle and Kenneth Bae held in North Korea say they have but one hope — for a senior U.S. statesman to come and get them […]
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Kenneth Bae’s sister asked North Korea for mercy after hearing from her brother on an unexpected CNN interview.
“It’s painful to just watch him, time after time, being put on camera by the (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) officials to make the same plea to our government,” Terri Chung, Kenneth Bae’s sister, said.
She also appealed to the US Government: “We know that [the Government has] been working hard behind the scenes, but the fact remains, he is still there after two years,” Chung said. “So I think that we reiterate our plea in saying if there was ever a time to step up the efforts, it’s now. You know, they’re signaling a window. Please respond. Please bring him home.”
A U.S. National Security council spokesman said securing the Americans’ release “is a top priority, and we have followed these cases closely in the White House. We continue to do all we can to secure their earliest possible release.”