High-level US envoy required for detainee
Kenneth Bae
North Korea is insisting that the United State send a high-ranking official to Pyongyang if it wants American missionary detainee Kenneth Bae released, according to Voice of America (VOA).
Bae’s mother, Bae Myung-hee, told VOA Thursday letters and phone calls she has received from her son since June of last year have made that clear.
“For about a year, the North has kept suggesting to my son that a high-ranked diplomat is needed for him to be released,” Bae said.
Bae referred to female American journalists who were imprisoned in the North in 2009. “As former U.S. President Bill Clinton went to North Korea to secure the release of the journalists, similar effort is required for my son,” Bae continued.
She added that according to the North, charges against her son were more serious than those faced by the female journalists.
Kenneth Bae, a 45-year-old Korean-American Christian missionary, was detained in North Korea in November 2012 for “anti-state crimes.” The North sentenced him to 15 years hard labor.