[ot-caption title=”Kenneth Bae, right, who had been held in North Korea since 2012, talks to reporters after he arrived Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., after he was freed during a top-secret mission. Looking on from left are Bae’s brother-in-law Andrew Chung, his mother, Myunghee Bae, and his sister, Terri Chung. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)” url=”https://pcpawprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/fnk.jpg”]

On November 8, 2014, Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller, the last two Americans known to be incarcerated in North Korea, were released from prison, following a visit from the Director of National Intelligence of the United States, James Clapper Jr.

Bae was accused by the North Korean government of attempting to overthrow the regime. He was charged with using a Christian organization, Youth on a Mission, to begin a “smear campaign” against the North Korean government and of planning a “religious coup d’état.” He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor and imprisoned for about a year and a half.

Miller had gone to North Korea in April, 2014, with a tourist visa and upon arriving there, allegedly tore up his visa, declaring that he intended to seek political asylum. He was arrested for “unruly behavior,” and was accused of deliberately breaking the law so that he could be sentenced to a labor camp and be a firsthand witness to the atrocities of North Korean prisons. He was sentenced to six years of hard labor for “hostile acts.” He was imprisoned for about eight months.

Last month on October 21, Jeffrey Fowle, an American citizen who had been arrested by the North Korean government for leaving a Bible in Chongjin, was released, leaving Miller and Bae as the last imprisoned Americans in North Korea. Fowle had been arrested in May, 2014, and was imprisoned for five months.

Clapper was sent to North Korea to intervene on Miller and Bae’s behalf. Bae was suffering from numerous health problems at the labor prison he was previously incarcerated in. Successfully, Clapper obtained the right to Miller and Bae’s release and flew back with them on his aircraft. Upon their arrival at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington, Bae and Miller were welcomed back by their friends and family. Bae later appeared at a news conference, thanking the Obama administration for their intervention and acknowledging everyone else who worked for his release.

The real reason why North Korean authorities decided to release Miller and Bae is currently unknown. Although, it is speculated that this may be a tentative attempt to reopen diplomatic relations with the United States. It is also suspected that the releases may be a strategy to improve North Korea’s international image, which has been damaged by the numerous accusations of human rights violations leveled against the regime.

Sources: NBC News, The New York Times, The New Yorker