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North Korea Detains 3rd American in New Threat to Relations With U.S.
(about 2 hours later)
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said on Friday that it had detained a tourist from the United States and that he was under investigation for unspecified illegal acts, making him the third American known to be currently held in custody by North Korean authorities.
SEOUL, South Korea — A municipal worker from Ohio on a tour of North Korea has been detained there for unspecified illegal acts, making him the third American known to be currently held in the isolated country and threatening to further aggravate its tense relationship with the United States.
The man, Jeffrey Edward Fowle, entered North Korea on April 29 and “perpetrated activities that violated the laws of our republic, which did not fit his stated purpose of visiting our republic as a tourist,” said the state-run Korean Central News Agency. It said officials were investigating him.
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency reported the detention on Friday, saying the tourist, Jeffrey Edward Fowle, had entered North Korea on April 29 and “perpetrated activities that violated the laws of our republic, which did not fit his stated purpose of visiting our republic as a tourist.”
The news agency gave no further details about the nature of the accusations against Mr. Fowle, did not identify his hometown and did not specify when he had been detained. A report on the website of the Dayton Daily News in Ohio said Mr. Fowle, 56, was from the Dayton suburb of West Carrolton and worked for the nearby suburb of Moraine. The report said the Moraine city manager, David Hicks, had described him as a longtime employee. Telephone messages left on Mr. Fowle’s home telephone answering machine and with Mr. Hicks’s office were not returned.
The agency did not explain the nature of the accusations, but Japan’s Kyodo News Agency, citing unidentified sources, said Mr. Fowle had been seized in mid-May as he was about to leave the country and that he had left a Bible in his hotel room, which the North Korean authorities might have interpreted as the subversive work of a missionary.
WHIO, a local television broadcaster, said Mr. Fowle had a wife and three children.
The Korean Central News Agency provided no further details about Mr. Fowle but local media in the Dayton, Ohio, area said that he was a 56-year-old municipal worker in the suburb of Moraine and had a wife and three children.
Japan’s Kyodo News Agency, citing unidentified sources, reported that Mr. Fowle had been seized in mid-May as he was about to depart North Korea and that he had left a Bible in his hotel room.
The website of the Dayton Daily News said the Moraine city manager, David Hicks, had described him as a longtime employee. Telephone messages left on Mr. Fowle’s home telephone answering machine and with Mr. Hicks’s office were not returned.
Mr. Fowle’s detention came against a backdrop of continued tensions between North Korea and the United States over the North’s nuclear weapons program. But is also coincides with rising interest in North Korea as a tourist destination. A number of tour operators, mainly in China but at least one in the United States, offer organized visits to the country, one of the world’s most ostracized and opaque societies.
The State Department confirmed Mr. Fowle’s detention, which came against a backdrop of resilient hostility between North Korea and the United States, largely over the North’s nuclear weapons and missile activities. Despite that hostility and efforts by the United States government to discourage American travel to North Korea, it has enjoyed rising interest as a tourist destination. A number of tour operators, mainly in China but at least one in the United States, offer organized visits.
American tourist interest has increased despite warnings by the United States government that no Americans should travel to the North, following the arrest last year of an American tourist, Merrill E. Newman of Palo Alto, Calif. Mr. Newman was released after more than a month of captivity. The North had accused him of war crimes after learning that Mr. Newman, a Korean War veteran, had helped train anti-Communist guerrillas during the war. But it cited Mr. Newman’s age, 85 at the time, as a reason for releasing him.
The United States government toughened its longstanding admonishment against American travel to the North following the arrest last year of a tourist, Merrill E. Newman of Palo Alto, Calif. Mr. Newman was released after more than a month. The North had accused him of war crimes after having learned that Mr. Newman, a Korean War veteran, had helped train anti-Communist guerrillas. But it cited Mr. Newman’s age, 85 at the time, as a reason for releasing him.
North Korea is still holding at least two other American citizens.
North Korea is still holding at least two other American citizens.
Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American missionary, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor after he was caught in the North in late 2012. Mr. Bae was accused of trying to establish a secret proselytizing network inside the North, using his tourism business as a front. North Korea is also holding Matthew Todd Miller, who it said tore up his visa and demanded asylum after arriving in Pyongyang on April 10.
Kenneth Bae, 45, a Korean-American missionary, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor after he was accused of trying to establish a secret proselytizing network inside the North, using his tourism business as a front. North Korea is also holding Matthew Todd Miller, 24, who it said tore up his visa and demanded asylum after arriving in Pyongyang on April 10.
Mr. Miller was a client of Uri Tours, an agency based in Palisades Park, N.J., that organizes trips to North Korea. John Dantzler-Wolfe, the agency’s chief operating officer, said in a telephone interview on Friday that based on information from its contacts inside North Korea, “we believe his physical condition is O.K.”
Mr. Miller was a client of Uri Tours, an agency in Palisades Park, N.J., that organizes trips to North Korea. John Dantzler-Wolfe, the agency’s chief operating officer, said in a telephone interview on Friday that based on information from its contacts inside North Korea, “We believe his physical condition is O.K.”
Mr. Dantzler-Wolfe said he had no details on where Mr. Miller was or whether he had freedom of movement. He also said traveler interest in North Korea did not seem to be affected by the State Department warnings to Americans about visiting. “The State Department has always said that,” he said.
Mr. Dantzler-Wolfe said he had no details on where Mr. Miller was or whether he had freedom of movement. He also said traveler interest in North Korea did not seem to be affected by the State Department warnings about visiting. “The State Department has always said that,” he said.
He said Mr. Fowle, also reported to have traveled to North Korea with a tour group, was not a Uri Tours client.
Mr. Fowle was believed to have traveled to North Korea with a tour group. But Mr. Dantzler-Wolfe said he was not a Uri Tours client.
The United States has no diplomatic ties with North Korea and the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents the interests of American citizens held in the North. North Korea has twice canceled its invitation for Robert King, Washington’s special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, to discuss Mr. Bae’s case.
The United States has no diplomatic ties with North Korea and the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents the interests of American citizens. North Korea has twice canceled its invitation for Robert King, Washington’s special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, to discuss Mr. Bae’s case.
Justin Higgins, a spokesman for the United States Embassy in Beijing, the origination city for many tours to North Korea, said Friday in response to Mr. Fowle’s detention: “We’re aware of reports that a U.S. citizen was detained in North Korea. We have no additional information to share at this time. There’s no greater priority for us than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad.”
Marie Harf, a State Department spokeswoman, confirmed Friday that North Korea was now holding three Americans. She said Mr. King remained ready to go to North Korea.
Mr. Higgins also urged Americans considering trips to North Korea to read the State Department’s advisory that admonishes against such travel because “U.S. citizen tourists have been subject to arbitrary arrest and long-term detention.” The advisory, last updated on May 20, also warns: “Do not assume that joining a group tour or use of a tour guide will prevent your arrests or detention by North Korean authorities.”
Ms. Harf would not elaborate on details of Mr. Fowle’s case or what the administration was doing to secure the release of all three Americans, but said that “obviously, broadly speaking, it’s important to get all of our citizens home.”
North Korea has often been suspected of using people held in the country as political bargaining chips to force Washington and others to negotiate with it. It had previously released United States citizens it had held when prominent Americans, such as former President Bill Clinton, visited the country.
State Department officials also urged Americans considering trips to North Korea to read the department’s advisory that warns against such travel because “U.S. citizen tourists have been subject to arbitrary arrest and long-term detention.” The advisory, last updated on May 20, also warns: “Do not assume that joining a group tour or use of a tour guide will prevent your arrests or detention by North Korean authorities.”
But the North has also been using cases like Mr. Bae’s to warn against other religious activists who have worked along the Chinese-North Korean border for years, distributing food for North Korean refugees. They sometimes help smuggle refugees for resettlement in South Korea and train them as missionaries, in some cases dispatching them back to their home country to spread the Gospel and open underground churches. North Korea treats such activities as “anti-state” crimes and attempts to sabotage the country’s leadership.
Last Friday, the North sentenced a South Korean Baptist missionary to a labor camp for life for allegedly trying to build underground churches there. The missionary, Kim Jong-uk, was also convicted of spying and other “anti-state” crimes, the Korean Central News Agency said.
The harsh treatment of American tourists and South Korean missionaries followed a conciliatory agreement North Korea struck with Japan last month, when North Korea agreed to reopen an investigation into the fate of Japanese citizens it abducted in the 1970s and 1980s.
In return, Japan promised to lift some sanctions and consider humanitarian aid shipments once such an inquiry was started.
