Americans detained in North plead for U.S. help

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Americans detained in North plead for U.S. help

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Matthew Miller, Jeffrey Fowle and Kenneth Bae

PYONGYANG - North Korea on Monday gave foreign media access to three detained Americans who said they have been able to contact their families and - watched by officials as they spoke - called on Washington to send a high-ranking representative to negotiate for their freedom.

Jeffrey Fowle and Matthew Miller said they expected to face trial within a month.

However, they said they did not know what punishment they could be facing or what the specific charges against them were.

Kenneth Bae, who is already serving a 15-year term, said his health had deteriorated at the labor camp where he works eight hours a day.

The three were allowed to speak briefly with The Associated Press at a meeting center in Pyongyang. North Korean officials were present during the interviews, conducted separately and in different rooms, but did not censor the questions that were asked.

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.

That has often been North Korea’s bargaining chip in the past, when senior statesmen including former U.S. President Bill Clinton made trips to Pyongyang to secure the release of detainees.

North Korea says Fowle and Miller committed hostile acts that violated their status as tourists. It announced that authorities are preparing for the trial but has not given the date.

In Washington, National Security Council spokesman Patrick Ventrell said, “We have seen the reports of interviews with the three American citizens detained in North Korea.”

“Securing the release of U.S. citizens is a top priority and we have followed these cases closely in the White House,” his statement added. “We continue to do all we can to secure their earliest possible release.”

Ventrell noted that the State Department has issued a travel warning recommending against all travel to North Korea for U.S. citizens.

Fowle arrived in North Korea on April 29. He is suspected of leaving a Bible in a nightclub in the northern port city of Chongjin. Christian proselytizing is considered a crime in North Korea.

Fowle, 56, lives in Miamisburg, Ohio, where he works in a city streets department. He has a wife and three children aged 9, 10 and 12.

“Within a month I could be sharing a jail cell with Ken Bae,” he said, adding that he hasn’t spoken with his family for three weeks. “I’m desperate to get back to them.”

North Korea says Miller, 24, entered the country on April 10 with a tourist visa, but tore it up at the airport and shouted that he wanted to seek asylum. Miller refused to comment on whether he was seeking asylum.

Bae, a 46-year-old Korean-American missionary, has been held since November 2012. He was moved from a work camp to a hospital because of failing health and weight loss but was sent back to the work camp outside of Pyongyang last month, where he said he does farm-related labor.

He said he has lost 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms) and has severe back pain, along with a sleep disorder. His family has said his health problems include diabetes, an enlarged heart, liver problems and back pain.

“The only hope that I have is to have someone from the U.S. come,” he said. “But so far, the latest I’ve heard is that there has been no response yet. So I believe that officials here are waiting for that.”

Bae said he did not realize before the trial that he was violating North Korean law, but refused to go into details.

He said the lead up to his trial lasted about four months, but the trial itself only took about an hour.

He said he elected not to have a defense attorney because “at that point there was no sense of me to get a lawyer because the only chance I had was to ask for mercy.”

“It was very quick,” he said.

Bae’s sister Terri Chung told The Associated Press in a telephone interview on Monday that she is worried about Bae’s health and well-being, and she appealed to North Korean officials to show mercy and release her brother.

The United States has repeatedly offered to send its envoy for North Korean human rights issues, Robert King, to Pyongyang to seek a pardon for Bae and other U.S. detainees, but without success.

Washington has no diplomatic ties with North Korea and no embassy in Pyongyang. Instead, the Swedish Embassy takes responsibility for U.S. consular affairs.

Fowle and Miller said they have met with the Swedish ambassador and have been allowed to make phone calls to their relatives.

Bae seemed healthy but appeared to have significant back pain when he tried to sit down.

Fowle appeared to be in good health. He smiled at times, but also said he was scared and desperate.

Miller looked very anxious and spoke quietly. He was thin and pale, and was dressed all in black.

AP
















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