Washington – The U.S. government on Monday requested that the North Korean government release three U.S. citizens currently detained there “out of humanitarian concern” and grant one of them special amnesty to seek medical care.
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Three U.S. citizens – Kenneth Bae, Jeffrey Fowle and Matthew Miller – asked the American government for help returning home on Monday in rare interviews with CNN set up by the North Korean government. Bae is serving a 15-year sentence, others are awaiting trial.
“There is no greater priority for us than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad … We continue to work actively to secure these three U.S. Citizens’ release,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.
“The Embassy of Sweden in Pyongyang acts as our protecting power for issues involving U.S. citizens in North Korea. We are in regular, close coordination with representatives of the Embassy of Sweden.”
Let us remember that North Korea did not go out and kidnap these three. Kenneth Bae went to North Korea to convert North Koreans to Christianity, in violation of the laws of North Korea. Mathew Miller went there and sought asylum from the USA; now it appears that he changed his mind. Jeffrey Fowle left a Bible in his hotel room in North Korea. These three individuals have to understand that when you are in someone else’s back yard (especially a country with the most restrictive society in the world), you have to obey their law, and be 150% sure that you stay out of trouble. I’m not looking to throw salt on some else’s wounds, but this article did not tell the full story.
Where’s Rodman when we need him?