North Korea says it will put two American tourists on trial

[American Patriot]

North Korea says it will put two American tourists on trial

Published June 30, 2014FoxNews.com


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North Korea has announced that it is preparing to put two American tourists on trial for carrying out what Pyongyang says were hostile acts against the country.
Matthew Todd Miller and Jeffrey Edward Fowle were detained nearly three weeks apart in April. North Korean authorities have not specified what the two did that was considered hostile or illegal, or what kind of punishment they might face. It also did not say when the trial would begin.
"Their hostile acts were confirmed by evidence and their own testimonies," read a partial statement from the official Korean Central News Agency.
Fowle arrived in the country on April 29. North Korea's state media said in June that authorities were investigating him for committing acts inconsistent with the purpose of a tourist visit.
Diplomatic sources said Fowle was detained for leaving the Bible in his hotel room. But a spokesman for Fowle's family said the 56-year-old from Ohio was not on a mission for his church. His wife and three children said they miss him very much and "are anxious for his return home," according to a statement after his detention that was provided by a spokesman for the family.
KCNA said Miller, 24, entered the country April 10 with a tourist visa, but tore it up at the airport and shouted that he wanted to seek asylum. A large number of Western tourists visited Pyongyang in April to run in the annual Pyongyang Marathon or attend related events. Miller came at that time, but tour organizers say he was not planning to join the marathon.
North Korea has also been separately holding Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae since November 2012. He was convicted by a North Korean court and is serving 15 years of hard labor, also for what the North says were hostile acts against the state.
The latest arrests present a conundrum for Washington, which has no diplomatic ties with the North and no embassy in Pyongyang.
Instead, the Swedish Embassy takes responsibility for U.S. consular affairs in the North. State Department officials say they cannot release details about the cases because they need a privacy waiver to do so.
Pyongyang has been strongly pushing tourism lately in an effort to bring in foreign cash. The tourism push has been directed at the Chinese, who by far are the most common visitors to the North, but the still small number of Western tourists to North Korea has been growing.
Despite its efforts to bring in more tourists, the North remains highly sensitive to any actions it considers political and is particularly wary of anything it deems to be Christian proselytizing.
After Miller's detention, Washington updated its travel warning to the North to note that over the past 18 months, "North Korea detained several U.S. citizens who were part of organized tours. Do not assume that joining a group tour or use of a tour guide will prevent your arrest or detention by North Korean authorities."
It added that efforts by private tour operators to prevent or resolve past detentions of U.S. citizens in the DPRK have not succeeded in gaining their release.
The Korean Peninsula is still in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea.

[American Patriot]

What happened to these guys?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-korea-release

Americans facing trial in North Korea call on US to help secure their release

Matthew Todd Miller and Jeffrey Edward Fowle are accused of committing ‘anti-state’ crimes in the secretive country

• Eric Talmadge for Associated Press, in Pyongyang
  
  
• theguardian.com, Friday 1 August 2014 12.24 EDT

In this image taken from the video, US citizen Matthew Todd Miller says he expects to receive a long prison terms. Photograph: AP

Two American tourists charged with “anti-state” crimes in North Korea have pleaded for help from the US government to secure their release before they face trial, and the prospect of long prison terms.


In their first appearance since being detained more than three months ago, Matthew Todd Miller and Jeffrey Edward Fowle told a local AP Television News crew that they believe they will soon face trial. They said they were in good health and were being treated well, and were allowed to take daily walks. The brief meeting was conducted under the condition that the specific location not be disclosed.


Fowle, however, said he fears his situation will get much worse once he goes on trial. “The horizon for me is pretty dark,” he said. “I don’t know what the worst-case scenario would be, but I need help to extricate myself from this situation. I ask the government for help in that regards.”


It was not clear whether they were speaking on their own initiative, or if their comments were coerced. The TV crew was permitted to ask them questions.


North Korea says the two committed hostile acts which violated their status as tourists. It has announced that authorities are preparing to bring them before a court, but has not yet specified what they did that was considered hostile or illegal, or what kind of punishment they might face. The date of the trial has not been announced.


Fowle arrived in the county on 29 April. He is suspected of leaving a Bible in a nightclub in the northern port city of Chongjin, but a spokesman for Fowle’s family said the 56-year-old from Miamisburg, Ohio, was not on a mission for his church. Fowle works in a city streets department. His has a wife and three children, ages 9, 10, and 12.

In this image taken from video, US citizen Jeffrey Edward Fowle says he expects to be tried soon Photograph: AP

“The window is closing on that process. It will be coming relatively soon, maybe within a month,” Fowle said of his trial. “I’m anxious to get home, I’m sure all of us are.”
Fowle also produced a letter he said he had written summarising his experience in North Korea.


Less is known about Miller, or about what specific crime he allegedly committed.

North Korea’s state-run media have said the 24-year-old entered the country on 10 April with a tourist visa, but tore it up at the airport and shouted that he wanted to seek asylum. A large number of Western tourists visited Pyongyang in April to run in the annual Pyongyang Marathon or attend related events. Miller came at that time, but tour organisers say he was not planning to join the marathon.


“I expect soon I will be going to trial for my crime and be sent to prison,” Miller said. “I have been requesting help from the American government, but have received no reply.”


North Korea has also been holding another American, Kenneth Bae, since November 2012. Bae, a Korean-American missionary who turned 46 on Friday, told a Japan-based pro-North Korean news organisation earlier this week that he felt “abandoned” by the US government. He is serving a sentence of 15 years of hard labour for what North Korea has claimed were hostile acts against the state.


However, US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Thursday the agency is in regular contact with Bae’s family.


Last summer, authorities moved Bae from a work camp to a hospital because of failing health and weight loss. He was sent back to the work camp earlier this year, only to be taken again to a hospital less than two months later. His family says he suffers from diabetes, an enlarged heart, liver problems and back pain.

Bae’s sister, Terri Chung, said in a statement on Thursday it was the first word the family has had of Bae since April.

A Choson Sinbo TV grab image provided by Yonhap shows Kenneth Bae, a 45-year-old Korean-US citizen known as a Christian missionary, speaking in an interview. Photograph: Choson Sinbo/Handout/EPA

“After months of silence, it is devastating to hear Kenneth talk about ‘feeling abandoned by the United States government,’” she said. “Although we acknowledge and appreciate all the efforts the US State Department has been making behind the scenes to secure Kenneth’s release, the fact remains that after almost two years, Kenneth still remains imprisoned in North Korea.”


North Korea has in the past waited for senior US officials to come to the country to secure the release of some American detainees. Both Fowle and Miller suggested that intervention from the highest levels in Washington possibly a visit by a former president might be needed to gain their release.


The US 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 US detainees but without success.


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


Though a small number of US citizens visit North Korea each year as tourists, the State Department strongly advises against it. After Miller’s detention, Washington updated its travel warning to note that over the past 18 months, “North Korea detained several US citizens who were part of organised tours.”


North Korea has been strongly pushing tourism lately in an effort to bring in foreign cash. But despite its efforts to bring in more visitors mostly from neighbouring China it remains highly sensitive to any actions it considers political and is particularly wary of anything it deems to be Christian proselytising.


In March, North Korea deported an Australian missionary detained for spreading Christianity in the country after he apologised and requested forgiveness.