Washington: Two Americans released from captivity in North Korea returned to the United States after their departure was secured through a secret mission by the top U.S. intelligence official to the reclusive nation.
Matthew Miller and Kenneth Bae arrived late Saturday at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. U.S. officials said the pair flew back with James Clapper, the director of national intelligence.
Clapper was the highest-ranking American to visit Pyongyang in more than a decade. Family members met both men with hugs as they emerged from their plane. “Thank you all for supporting me, lifting me up, not forgetting me,” Bae told reporters shortly after his return to the United States.
He thanked the North Korean government for letting him come home. “It’s been an amazing two year. I learned a lot, I grew a lot, I lost a lot of weight,” said Bae, a Korean-American missionary with health problems.
Asked how he was feeling, he said: “I’m recovering at this time.” His family has said he suffers from diabetes, an enlarged heart, liver problems and back pain. Neither Miller nor his family made an immediate public statement.
It was the latest twist in the fitful relationship between the Obama administration and the young North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, whose approach to the U.S. has shifted back and forth from defiance to occasional conciliation. It was an unusual role for Clapper, a retired general who doesn’t typically do diplomacy. (AP)
