North Korea releases Americans

North Korea has released two detained US citizens, the US government announced on Saturday.

Kenneth Bae (file photo above) and Matthew Miller were being accompanied by James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, on their way home.

"We are grateful to Director of National Intelligence Clapper, who engaged on behalf of the United States in discussions with DPRK authorities about the release of two citizens," the US State Department announced in a statement, referring to the country by its official name: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"We also want to thank our international partners, especially our protecting power, the government of Sweden, for their tireless efforts to help secure the freedom of Mr. Bae and Mr. Miller," the statement added.

Interview with CNN

On September 1, CNN was permitted to speak to the US inmates. Bae, who is in his mid-40s, had been arrested 20 months ago and sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment at a labor camp for "crimes against the state." Bae, whom the regime had described as a militant Christian evangelist before his sentencing, is of Korean descent and worked as a missionary.

In the CNN interview, he said that he was in poor health and that he had worked 8 hours per day at a labor camp outside of Pyongyang.

"The only hope that I have is to have someone from the US come," he said. "But, so far, the latest I've heard is that there has been no response yet. So I believe that officials here are waiting for that."

Bae was said to be suffering from health problems including diabetes and an enlarged heart.

Miller, a 24-year-old from California, was arrested in April this year and sentenced to six years of hard labor on charges of espionage. He is said to have ripped up his tourist visa upon arrival in North Korea and demanded asylum in the communist nation.

Two weeks ago, North Korea released the detained US citizen Jeffrey Fowle. He had been arrested in Chongjin in May after having left a Bible in a guesthouse, according to North Korean reports. His family denied allegations that he had been traveling on a church mission with the aim of converting North Koreans to Christianity.

The US government had been putting pressure on North Korea to release the US nationals.

sb/mkg (Reuters, AP, AFP)