Two Americans held in North Korea plead for help from US

My first thought was, " Good luck with that"! Talking to many xpats who have offended some local rules or regulations and ended up calling the American Embassy were basically told you did the crime now you do the time. It maybe different with these two but the young man who tore up his visa and wanted asylum (if the story is true) will regret the day he ever sat foot in N.K. IMO. Can anyone spell "diplomatic bargaining chips"?

They were detained separately in April but both were accused of "committing hostile acts" while in the country.

Mr Fowle, 56, entered North Korea on 29 April and was detained in early June as he was leaving the country

He is said to have left a bible in the toilet of a restaurant in the northern port city of Chongjin but his family have insisted that he was not on a mission for his church.

North Korean authorities say Mr Miller, 24, entered the country on 10 April with a tourist visa but tore it up at the airport and shouted that he wanted to seek asylum.

www.bbc.co.uk...

a reply to: 727Sky

If yourstupid enough to enter north korea then its on you.

Plus the USA have enough dumbasses do they really want 2 more back?

Of all places to seek asylum....I wonder what school he went to?

All I can say is there is ample evidence why NOT to go to NK and sticking a bible in a toilet, if true, although I suppose I get the sentiment, if things are the way they are typically portrayed then I suspect that bible would have become toilet paper anyway.

Calling Dennis Rodman now.

a reply to: 727Sky

Something is fishy here.
I guess Fowle could have tried to do religious missionary work there, and may have broken some laws,but Miller's case is too unclear.

What did Miller do that caused him to rip up his visa and seek asylum?
It's not mentioned anywhere.
Maybe he did break some law.

I'm just trying to say that if he was innocent then he would have spoken about what they think he did, and not torn up his visa.

And for Pete's sake! Why go to North Korea at all???

I would like to know what exactly they are being accused of, and whether they actually did it or not.

Traveling a lot in the past, I have learned that if you go to a country, you have to respect and follow their laws.
(No matter how foolish you think they are.)

I'm sorry I don't trust anything coming from the North Korean Government but.....

The bonehead who asked for asylum *If true* good riddance. As far as the guy who left his bible in the water closet *If true* was being careless considering the State Sanctioned religion of 'Great Leader" farting and bringing forth the Earth.

Sounds like theses 2 clowns went there, things didnt turn out the way they thought they would and now "waaaaaa i wanna go home now!"
Lesson learnt...

both cases smell rather fishy. i take it by "tearing up his visa", they really mean tearing up his passport which contained said visa? after all a "visa" is a stamp or sticker placed on a page of your passport. i wonder why they said visa and not passport? perhaps if they said passport people would realize how ludicrous that would be considering it is your only real form of ID an outside country will accept, something you would need even if you were trying to claim asylum. and why the heck would you choose North Korea to run to? but even beyond that if he was in the airport as the story says, then why not just toss him out of the country on the next flight back to where he came from? also what could you possibly have done to piss of the government before even leaving the airport? i guess he could have been a stereotypical ugly american, but again why not just toss hiss butt out of the country? seems to me they wanted a bargaining chip. isn't this time period when North Korea was doing another rant/threatening the west things?

as for the guy leaving a bible in a restroom, complete BS, unless he dropped it or forgot it accidentally. personally knowing people who were involved in bible smuggling into the soviet union i can say they would NEVER have left a precious bible in a washroom, where it most likely would have been turned in. bibles in a country they are outlawed in are just far too valuable to do that with, think worth more than gold. there would be far more people wanting one than can be supplied, so you wouldn't just randomly dump one and hope someone would read it. not to mention it wouldn't be the American handing them out, any American or white person would have no hope of not being tailed in such a country and bible smuggling groups know it well. they normally use citizens or people who could pass as a citizen to do it. someone who could blend into the crowd, not stand out like a sore thumb with no hope of loosing a tail and keeping it lost. they worked more like spies than anything else, after all getting caught gets you harsh punishment, even death. i suspect this is just another bargaining chip they grabbed.

i think this is also a propaganda shot, "the US won't help me". also they let reporters in to interview them? really sounds a bit fishy there. why would they let the press in unless they could guarantee that the interview would go as the government wished? easy enough to ensure, they say the wrong things they die or disappear, of course they were coerced, why even question that point?

Stupid is as stupid does. No sympathy at all for them. Mouse traps eliminate the slow stupid mice first. Survival of the fittest.

Living proof cousins shouldnt breed ... not sure whats more funny the boneheads choosing north korea of all places to visit .. or them thinking uncle scam will come to their rescue ...

a reply to: crazyewok

I'm with you there.

Going to N.K. is almost like willfully putting your hand in an alligator's mouth-and expecting it not to bite.

There should be an addition to our law,like if an American goes to another sovereign nation and does something stupid-then they are subject to that nation's punishment.

Whether or not Fowler did what N.K.said he did doesn't really matter to me.

He knew that he was playing with fire for even being there.

a reply to: 727Sky

I was not aware the Us had an embassy, or any diplomatic presence, inside North Korea.

As for the action of these 2 - I have to agree since they were stupid enough to travel there and pull the stunts they did. People need to think through their actions and what the consequences will be should they act.

I have no love for North Korea and quite frankly think we should end the N. Korean government. With that said these 2 made their own beds, knowing how North Korea viewed their actions before coming into the country.

Thing is the USA is still at war with North Korea there is only a truce.

So why would two American want to risk going to a country were the people are from birth brought up to hate and distrust Americans?

Its like going into a tiger pen and poking it with a taser.

a reply to: crazyewok









Sorry couldn't resist.. North Korea is just one of those countries that fits into almost any joke.

This sounds... well, I don't want to say stupid, but... well...

I guess I don't particularly understand why you'd want to go to a country where they're openly against the country you're from. But then again, some people would probably (and may I add mistakenly) think that this "tiny detail" wouldn't affect them. Or maybe they like the adrenaline.

Whatever the case is, going to a place like this, doing God knows what and then expecting your government to rescue you, even though you're aware the relationship between the two countries is really bad?

So, yeah, I didn't want to say this was stupid. But it kinda is. Hopefully it'll get sorted out cause I wouldn't wish getting stuck in NK on anybody, but man. Next time, plan your holidays better.

a reply to: Xcathdra

I agree its one of the few thing il miss when it goes. They make such easy jokes

It almost makes me feel guilty how easy it is, it like picking on the fat poor kid in special ed classes at school

""I don't know what the worst-case scenario would be, but I need help to extricate myself from this situation. I have been requesting help from the American government, but have received no reply," he added."


I LOLD

this is from the guy wanting asylum?!

yup, I lold

Gotta wonder why anyone in their right mind would go to NoKo...not my idea of a vacation hot spot.

If they broke the law? It's on them, and won't get much joy from the state dept. Nor, IMHO, should they. They knew they were going into one of the most oppressive nation on Earth...once there, all bets are off.

All I have to say. . . .