North Korea on Saturday released two Americans who had been held prisoner in the North for months. The release of missionary Kenneth Bae (46) and Matthew Todd Miller (24) came 18 days after Pyongyang set free Jeffrey Fowle (56), who was detained in the North for five months.
| From this point on, any American stupid enough to travel to North Korea should be left there without further negotiation by us. I can only imagine what we had to pay to get these two released... |
Their release was negotiated by U.S. National Intelligence Director James Clapper, who delivered a personal letter from President Barack Obama to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The U.S. government strenuously denied the freeing of the prisoners was linked to negotiations about North Korea's nuclear program. |