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Two Americans released from lengthy prison sentences in North Korea arrived home Saturday, following a secret mission by US intelligence chief James Clapper to secure their freedom at Pyongyang’s initiative.
The plane carrying Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller touched down at around 9pm at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State.
Bae, a Korean-American missionary who has served two years in prison, expressed thanks to those who had been “supporting me and lifting me up and not forgetting me.”
Watch: Americans freed by North Korea arrive in US

The men disembarked the US government jet with shaved heads and carrying their luggage, then embraced loved ones on the tarmac.
Bae and Miller were the last Americans held by North Korea.
Clapper was the highest-ranking American to visit Pyongyang in more than a decade.
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 United States has shifted back and forth from defiance to occasional conciliation. And it was an anomalous role for Clapper, an acerbic retired general who doesn’t typically do diplomacy.

“It’s a wonderful day for them and their families,” President Barack Obama said at the White House. “Obviously we are very grateful for their safe return. And I appreciate Director Clapper doing a great job on what was obviously a challenging mission.”
US officials did not immediately provide details about the circumstances of the Americans’ release, including whether Clapper met with Kim or other senior North Korean officials. They said the timing was not related to Obama’s imminent trip to China, Myanmar and Australia.

	READ MORE: North Korea frees jailed Americans, but no 'quid pro quo', US says
A senior administration official said Clapper carried a brief message from Obama indicating that Clapper was his personal envoy to bring the two Americans home. The official spoke on a condition of anonymity without authorisation to speak on the record.

But analysts who study North Korea said the decision to free Bae and Miller now from long prison terms probably was a bid by that country to ease pressure in connection with its human rights record. A recent United Nations report documented rape, torture, executions and forced labour in the North’s network of prison camps, accusing the government of “widespread, systematic and gross” human rights violations.
North Korea seems worried that Kim could be accused in the International Criminal Court in The Hague, said Sue Mi Terry, a former senior intelligence analyst now at Columbia University.
“The North Koreans seem to be obsessed over the human rights issue,” she said. “This human rights thing is showing itself to be an unexpected leverage for the US.”
Bruce Klingner, a former CIA analyst now at the Heritage Foundation, agreed that efforts to shine a spotlight on the country’s human rights record “startled the regime and led to frantic attempts to derail the process”.
“Their [Bae and Miller’s] release has been our focus every single day and we’ve been working all the angles available to bring them home,” Secretary of State John Kerry said from Oman on Saturday. “We’re pleased that this humanitarian gesture has taken place.”

Bae, a Korean-American missionary with health problems, was serving a 15-year sentence for alleged anti-government activities. He was detained in 2012 while leading a tour group to a North Korean economic zone.
Terri Chung, Bae’s sister, said she received word from the State Department on Saturday morning that Bae and Miller were on a plane that had left North Korean airspace.
“We have been waiting for and praying for this day for two years. This ordeal has been excruciating for the family, but we are filled with joy right now,” Chung said in an e-mailed statement.
Miller was serving a six-year jail term on charges of espionage after he allegedly ripped up his tourist visa at Pyongyang’s airport in April and demanded asylum. North Korea said Miller had wanted to experience prison life so that he could secretly investigate North Korea’s human rights situation.
Last month, North Korea released Jeffrey Fowle of Miamisburg, Ohio, who was held for nearly six months. He had left a Bible in a nightclub in the hope that it would reach North Korea’s underground Christian community.
Fowle said his fellow Americans’ release is “an answer to a prayer”.
WATCH: Former North Korea detainees speak of ordeal

He said he initially thought Bae and Miller had been released with him last month. “I didn’t realise they weren’t released with me until I got on the plane,” he said.
Joseph DeTrani, the former North Korea mission manager for the Director of National Intelligence, said the releases are a hopeful sign that North Korea “wants to come out of the penalty box”.
“The North Koreans want to come back to negotiations,” said DeTrani, who leads an intelligence contractor trade group. “They are going through a bad patch. The last two years have been a disaster. They are more and more of an isolated state. We’re seeing an outreach – the leadership in Pyongyang is saying, ‘We’ve got to change course, it’s not working.”‘
Bae and Miller had told The Associated Press that they believed their only chance of release was the intervention of a high-ranking government official or a senior US statesman. Previously, former Vice-President Al Gore and former President Jimmy Carter had gone to North Korea to take detainees home.
Victor Cha, a North Korea expert and former national security official in the George W Bush administration, said Clapper was the most senior US official to visit North Korea since then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright went in 2000 and met with Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un’s father.
In recent years, Syd Seiler, a former CIA officer who was recently designated as the US envoy on the North Korean nuclear issue, has made at least one secret trip to North Korea.
Cha said sending Clapper would have satisfied North Korea’s desire for a cabinet-level visitor, while avoiding some of the diplomatic baggage of dispatching a regular US government official. The US and North Korea do not have formal ties, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean war that ended without a peace treaty.
The detainee releases do not herald a change in US posture regarding North Korea’s disputed nuclear programme, the main source of tension between Pyongyang and Washington, said a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss national security matters.
International aid-for-disarmament talks have been stalled since 2008. The US wants the North to take concrete steps to show it’s committed to denuclearisation before the talks can resume.
The last concerted US effort to restart those negotiations collapsed in spring 2012. North Korea had agreed to freeze its nuclear and missile programs in exchange for food aid, but then launched a long-range rocket in breach of a UN ban on its use of ballistic missile technology.
The US notified allies of Clapper’s trip to North Korea and alerted members of the congressional leadership once his visit was under way, the official said.
 


	THE BACKGROUND
What does North Korea get out of it? 
Pyongyang apparently got at least one thing it wanted: A senior US official had to come personally to retrieve the two Americans. James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, was the highest-ranking American to visit Pyongyang in more than a decade. It was not clear if Clapper held any talks with officials while he was in Pyongyang. A senior US official said Clapper carried a brief message from President Barack Obama.
Why now?
There is a growing concern in North Korea over international pressure in connection with its human rights record. A recent UN report documented rape, torture, executions and forced labour in the North's network of prison camps, accusing the government of "widespread, systematic and gross" human rights violations. Pyongyang strongly denies those allegations, which it claims are based mainly on politically motivated statements from defectors.
How did the Americans end up as prisoners in North Korea?
Kenneth Bae, who is 46, is a Korean-American missionary who had been held since November 2012. He was detained while leading a tour group in a special North Korean economic zone. He was accused of smuggling in inflammatory literature and trying to establish a base for anti-government activities at a border city hotel.
Matthew Miller's case remains mysterious. He entered the country on April 10 on a tourist visa, allegedly ripped up the document at Pyongyang's airport and demanded asylum. North Korean prosecutors said he admitted having the "wild ambition" of experiencing prison life so that he could secretly investigate North Korea's human rights situation.
Associated Press


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North Korea

North Korea frees American detainees Bae, Miller 'after secret US mission'

Matthew Miller (centre), one of two detainees who arrived home to the United States. Photo: Reuters

Kenneth Bae (left) and Matthew Miller were allowed to go home after months in North Korean prison. Photos: Kyodo, AFP

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper carried a brief message to Pyongyang from Obama indicating that Clapper was his personal envoy to bring the two Americans home. Photo: AP

US citizen Kenneth Bae, accompanied by his sister Terri and his mother Myunghee, speaks to the media in a news conference after landing in Washington. Photo: Reuters

Matthew Miller, center, who had been held in North Korea since April, 2014, is greeted after arriving. Photo: AP

Kenneth Bae and his mother.

News

Asia

The two Americans released from North Korea’s notorious prison camps arrived home after their release was secured through a secret mission by the top US intelligence official to the socialist state.


.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Update | North Korea frees American detainees Bae, Miller 'after secret US mission'

Update | North Korea frees American detainees Bae, Miller 'after secret US mission'