Two Americans who had been detained by North Korea returned to the US on November 9.
Christian missionary Kenneth Bae was sentenced to 15 years hard labour for crimes against the state two years ago and Californian Matthew Todd Miller was sentenced to six years of hard labour after he ripped up his passport at Pyongyang airport and demanded asylum in April.
Their release coincided with the delivery of a personal note from US President Barack Obama to North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un at the beginning of Obama’s weeklong tour of Asia.
According to the Wall Street Journal, “The U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper travelled to North Korea to negotiate the release.. He is the highest-level American government emissary to visit North Korea in over 10 years.”
Source: Wall Street Journal