|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PYONGYANG, North Korea -- The United States government
must make a formal apology to secure the freedom of two Americans who
remain imprisoned in North Korea after the release this week of Jeffrey
Fowle, North Korean legal experts said Thursday.
Although
North Korea released Fowle, getting Matthew Miller and Kenneth Bae out
of prison will likely require an official statement of apology and
formal request for their release from Washington, according to the two
North Korean law experts who spoke to The Associated Press.
Fowle,
who had not yet been tried in a court, was flown out of North Korea on a
U.S. military jet on Tuesday after being detained for six months for
leaving a Bible in a nightclub in the city of Chongjin, where he was
visiting with a foreign tour group. North Korean state media said he was
released after leader Kim Jong Un granted him a special pardon
following "repeated requests" from President Barack Obama.
There has been no word on whether any progress has been made toward getting Miller and Bae released as well.
"In
order to return the prisoners to their country, the United States must
make an official apology and request their release," said Sok Chol Won, a
professor of international law at Pyongyang's Academy of Social
Sciences.
In Washington, State Department
spokeswoman Jen Psaki dismissed suggestions that the U.S. issue a formal
apology to North Korea for secure freedom for Miller and Bae.
"I
can assure anyone that I don't believe there's an apology forthcoming,"
Psaki said Thursday. "So I don't think anyone needs to wait on that."
Fowle's
release came after the North Korean government made several appeals
through its state-run media for Washington to take steps to resolve the
matter. The three men were also allowed to meet several times with The
Associated Press and other media to plea for help and keep the issue on
Washington's radar.
Psaki declined to comment
on whether Obama had personally asked Fowle's release, either directly
or through his appointed diplomats.
Miller and Bae were charged with more serious crimes than Fowle and have already been convicted by North Korea's Supreme Court.
Miller,
who entered the country on April 10 on a tourist visa, allegedly ripped
up the document at Pyongyang's airport and demanded asylum. North
Korean authorities say he intended to conduct espionage while in the
country. He was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison. During
his brief trial six weeks ago, North Korean prosecutors said he admitted
having the "wild ambition" of experiencing prison life so that he could
secretly investigate North Korea's human rights situation.
He is now digging in fields at a labor camp eight hours a day and being kept in isolation.
Bae,
46, has been held since November 2012, when he was detained while
leading a tour group in a special North Korean economic zone. He was
sentenced to 15 years in prison for "hostile acts" after being accused
of smuggling in inflammatory literature and trying to establish a base
for anti-government activities at a border city hotel. Bae is a
Korean-American missionary, and his family believes he was detained
because of his Christian faith.
Bae is suffering from chronic health issues.
"It's
not a matter of individuals. It's between countries," said Ri Kyong
Chol, another law professor at the academy. "Between the U.S. and our
country there is no political channel. ... If there were diplomatic
relations between our two countries this kind of problem wouldn't
happen."
Both Miller and Bae have told the AP
they believe their only chance of release is the intervention of a
high-ranking government official or a senior U.S. statesman.
In the past, former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have come to Pyongyang to bring detainees back home.
---
No comments:
Post a Comment