Seoul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The release of the three Americans detained for several months in prison in North Korea is a "top priority" for the administration of the United States. The White House released this statement following appeals by US citizens broadcast by CNN. The government in Pyongyang allowed a CNN crew and an Associated Press reporter to meet with the prisoners at a hotel: they all admitted their guilt and asked for the regime's "forgiveness".
Kenneth Bae, 46, has
been a prisoner in North Korea since 2012 and is currently confined
in a labor camp on
the outskirts of Pyongyang, sentenced
to 15 years hard labor for "anti-state" activities; Jeffrey Fowle (56) and Matthew Miller (24) are
accused of "violating national
law" but are still awaiting trial. The
first is a Christian missionary, the second have left a Bible in
a nightclub while
the third asked the regime for
"asylum".
The government led by Kim Jong-un has a history of using detainees as bargaining chips for material benefits such as humanitarian aid
or even cash from their governments.
In some past
cases, Pyongyang has demanded high ranking American
administration figures personally go to the country to negotiate prisoners release,
some of these even included former
President Bill Clinton. Washington
has proposed Robert King as a negotiator on several occasions. King is the US special envoy to North Korea, but the offer has always been declined.
The three detainees spoke with reporters yesterday, in the
presence of government officials.
Each of them was interviewed for five minutes in a
different room of a hotel located
in the capital. All three asked their government to make a "direct
appeal" for their release. Kenneth
Bae stated clearly that he has suffered
ill health and has been hospitalized on several
occassions: "The only hope I
have is that someone will come from
the United States - he said - but so far, the latest I've heard is
that there has been no response yet".