American Arrested for Leaving Bible at Sailor's Club Freed by North Korea
American citizen Jeffrey Fowle was freed by North Korea on Tuesday, after having been arrested in May for leaving a Bible at a sailor's club in the city of Chongjin. While Fowle is to be flown home to his family in Ohio, the White House has urged the two other American citizens held by North Korea to be released as well.
"While this is a positive decision ... we remain focused on the continued detention of Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller and again call on the DPRK to immediately release them," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
Fowle, a 56-year-old street repair worker from Miamisburg, Ohio, was accused by the North Korean government of religious proselytizing, which is considered a serious offense in the Pacific nation.
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State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that it was not immediately clear why Kim's government decided to free Fowle.
"We will let the North Koreans speak for themselves about why they decided to do this, and why now," Harf said, according to Reuters. "While we are pleased he was able to leave, we urge the immediate release of the other two."
Fowle family attorney Timothy Tepe said that the street repair worker's wife, Tatyana, "screamed when I told her" about her husband's release. Tepe added that Fowle himself was able to call her soon afterwords.
"She is ecstatic, excited, use whatever word you want," Tepe said, according to The Guardian.
Fowle has reportedly been examined by doctors and appeared to be in good medical health. Harf thanked the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang, which assists the U.S. government, for its "tireless efforts" in helping facilitate the release of the American.
Victor Cha, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, added that Fowle's release could signal a warming of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and North Korea.
"It is a surprising decision by the North Koreans, given their very inflexible stance over the past several months," Cha said.
"In North Korean eyes, Jeffrey Fowle's offenses may have been seen as the least severe (of the three U.S. prisoners) and therefore excusable."
In his statement, Earnest referred to two other imprisoned U.S. citizens, Matthew Miller and Kenneth Bae. The latter, a Korean-American missionary, was arrested in November 2012 and sentenced to 15 years hard labor despite concerns for his health.
Twenty-four-year-old Miller, on the other hand, entered North Korea on April 10 but tore up his tourist visa at the airport, declaring that he wants to seek asylum.
Christians are often arrested and sent to prison camps for any kind of expression of their faith, which has led watchdog groups like Open Doors to name North Korea the country where Christians face the most severe persecution in the world.
Seoul USA CEO Pastor Eric Foley told The Christian Post in an interview back in July regarding the arrests that North Korea often chooses to publicly blame Christians for its human rights problems and internal difficulties.
"There are important lessons to be learned from the arrests by Christians seeking to reach North Korea in the future. Now is not the time to comment on the strategies of those being detained," Foley told CP.
"But what we can conclude with certainty is that there is no 'back door' into North Korea – no strategy for sharing the gospel there that does not involve paying the highest of personal prices. This is what North Korean underground Christians have known and practiced for years."
