Just weeks after rumors of a possible coup in North Korea following Kim Jong Un's mysterious disappearance from the public eye, the country abruptly released one of three Americans currently held in North Korea. Jeffrey Fowle, shown above, was awaiting trial on charges of proselytizing (attempting to convert someone from one belief to another) after he left a Bible in a nightclub in Chongjin. A Defense Department airplane landed in Pyongyang's International Airport to carry Fowle out of the country. While the release of Fowle was welcomed by the State Department, it also urged North Korea to release the two other Americans currently being held: Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller. Kenneth Bae is a former Korean-American missionary who was detained after suspicions that he was fueling anti government activity. Miller was convicted of espionage. The North Korean supreme court ruled that he entered North Korea in an attempt to experience prison life and get an inside look at North Korea's human rights violations, and sentenced Miller to 6 years of hard labor.
Since the U.S. does not currently have any sort of diplomatic relations with North Korea, Sweden was largely responsible for negotiating Fowle's release.
Questions: What are some possible reason for the release of Fowle? Is North Korea possibly trying to improve relations with the U.S. after Kim Jong Un's apparent health issues?
Does this release signal a possible change in North Korea's foreign policy, or will they continue their annual antics and threaten more nuclear launches?
2 comments:
I think that this and other recent events, such as the North Korean delegation that had a surprise meeting with South Korean officials, could be signaling a desire to improve international relations. If that is the case however, I'm not sure if it will necessarily mean that their will be any improvements in the conditions in North Korea itself. It will be interesting to see if the rumors of a coup are really true and if these recent developments have been carried out by Kim Jong Un or new government leaders.
The abrupt freeing of Fowle does make me question the change in North Korean international relations. Personally, with North Korea's record of relations with other countries, I don't think much change is likely to occur. Fowle's release might signify some decrease in hostility, but moving in the opposite direction towards change and improvement are less likely. I am also interested to see if Kim Jong Un's recent absence from media relates at all to any kind of change happening in North Korea. If any change is going to happen, however, I wonder how this coup will affect the success of this change.
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