North Korea

Jeffrey Fowle returns after a half a year in captivity

An Ohio man who was detained in North Korea for nearly half a year has arrived back home.

Jeffrey Fowle landed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio Wednesday morning, one day after being released from North Korean custody, the Associated Press reports.

The 56-year-old Miamisburg resident was arrested earlier this year by North Korean authorities after he left a Bible at a nightclub. Christian evangelism is considered a crime in North Korea.

Fowle was the only one of three Americans held by Pyongyang who was not convicted of any charges. Two other Americans, Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller, continue to be held.

[AP]

(WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio) — An Ohio man detained for nearly half a year in North Korea has landed back home.

Officials say a plane carrying Jeffrey Fowle landed Wednesday morning at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton.

The State Department announced Tuesday that the 56-year-old Miamisburg resident had been released. The news came about six months after he was taken into custody after leaving a Bible at a nightclub. Christian evangelism is considered a crime in North Korea.

He had been awaiting trial — the only one of three Americans held by Pyongyang who had not been convicted of charges.

The two others were each sentenced to years in North Korean prisons after court trials that lasted no more than 90 minutes. The three Americans entered North Korea separately.

(CINCINNATI) — News that an Ohio man had been freed from North Korea after being detained there for nearly six months triggered the same response in his wife and former co-workers: Delight.

Jeffrey Fowle’s wife cried out with joy, the family’s attorney said Tuesday. And a manager in the suburban Dayton city where Fowle formerly worked said they were “delighted to hear the news.”

The State Department announced Tuesday that the 56-year-old Miamisburg resident was released nearly a half-year after he was taken into custody after leaving a Bible at a nightclub. He had been awaiting trial.

Attorney Timothy Tepe said Fowle was able to later call his wife himself on his way home. He was expected to arrive in Ohio on Wednesday, his former employer said in a statement.

Two other Americans who have been convicted of crimes in North Korea are still being held.

There was no immediate explanation for the release of Fowle, who was quickly whisked to the U.S. territory of Guam before heading back to his wife and three children.

Relations between Washington and Pyongyang, never warm, are at a particularly low point, and the U.S. has sought unsuccessfully for months to send a high-level representative to North Korea to negotiate acquittals for all three men.

Moraine, the city where Fowle worked as a streets department employee, terminated his employment last month.

“We’re delighted to hear the news and look forward to him returning to the community and his family,” David Hicks, Moraine’s city manager, said Tuesday. He didn’t discuss Fowle’s employment.

The Dayton Daily News reported last month that the city said Fowle’s termination included $70,000 in severance pay and the ability to be reinstated.

State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said Fowle was seen by doctors and appeared to be in good medical health. She declined to give more details about his release except to thank the government of Sweden, which has an embassy in Pyongyang, for its “tireless efforts.”

Harf would not say whether any American officials had intervened directly with the North Koreans.

Fowle was flown out of North Korea on a U.S. military jet which was spotted at Pyongyang’s international airport Tuesday by two Associated Press journalists.

There was no immediate comment from the government of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The United States has no diplomatic relations with North Korea and strongly warns American citizens against traveling to the country.

Fowle arrived there on April 29 and was arrested in May for leaving a Bible at the nightclub. Christian evangelism is considered a crime in North Korea.

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Jakes reported from Washington. Associated Press journalists Eric Talmadge and Maye-E Wong in Pyongyang, North Korea, and Deb Riechmann and Matthew Pennington in Washington contributed to this report.

Jeffrey Fowle is on his way home, officials say

North Korea has released Jeffrey Fowle, one of three Americans who have been detained by the reclusive country, the White House confirmed Tuesday.

“I am in a position to confirm that Jeffrey Fowle has been allowed to depart the DPRK and is on his way home to his family as we speak,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a briefing.

The U.S. negotiated Fowle’s release through the government of Sweden, which handles consular cases for American citizens in North Korea.

Fowle, who was visiting the country as a tourist, was arrested earlier this year for leaving a Bible in the restroom of a club. Two other Americans, Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller, continue to be held.

North Korea requested that the U.S. provide transportation for Fowle out of the country, and Earnest said the Department of Defense arranged transport for his trip back to the U.S.

Kim Il Sung had an obsessive drive to live to the age of 100

A former physician to North Korea’s f0unding leader Kim Il Sung speculated in a new interview that the ailments which afflicted the elder Kim may explain the recent public absence of his grandson and the country’s current leader, Kim Jong Un.

Kim So-Yeon, a phyisician who defected to South Korea in 1992, told CNN that Kim Il Sung suffered from a range of maladies, including stress, obesity, diabetes and heart problems, as well as an obsessive drive to live to the age of 100. She observed the same symptoms in his son, Kim Jong Il.

Examining photographs of the youngest Kim to make claims that can’t be verified in the opaque country, the physician speculated that Kim Jong Un recent reappearance in public, limping with a cane after a prolonged absence for unspecified medical treatments, appeared to match the symptoms of his father and grandfather.

[CNN]

Read next: Sorry, North Korea Conspiracists: Kim Jong Un Is Probably Just Sick

“We have not seen any indications of a transfer of power at this point in North Korea"

National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Sunday that the U.S. was closely monitoring the situation in North Korea, following a week of rumors regarding the status of Kim Jong Un as the country’s leader.

In an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press, Rice was asked by Chuck Todd if she was convinced that Kim Jong Un was still the leader of his country.

“Obviously, we are watching very carefully what’s happening in North Korea,” said Rice. “It’s a country that we monitor with great attention.”

Rice did not rule out the possibility of Kim Jong Un being deposed, but said there was no concrete evidence regarding the North Korean leader…

Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News

Kim Jong Un hasn't been seen in public since Sept. 3

Kim Jong Un missed an appearance at a key annual event on Friday, furthering speculation about the North Korean Leader’s health and control of his country.

Kim, who has ruled North Korea since his father’s death in 2011, was a no-show at a celebration for the 69th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party of North Korea in the country’s capital, according to The New York Times. The leader has led trips to the mausoleum that houses his father and grandfather in honor of the holiday every year since assuming power, but this year, state media did not list him as one of the officials in attendance.

The North Korean leader has not been seen publicly since Sept. 3, his longest absence from the public eye since 2010, according to NK News. Footage taken over the summer shows Kim limping and has led some to speculate that he is ill.

[NYT]