North Korea Frees US Men
The two Americans who were released from captivity in North Korea returned to the United States Saturday night.
Following a secured departure, which was part of a secret mission taken up by top U.S. Intelligence officials, from the Communist country, Matthew Todd Miller and Kenneth Bae landed at the Washington State military base. Bae is from Lynnwood in Washington and Miller from Bakersfield in California.
They were accompanied by U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, an official statement confirmed, BBC reports.
The men were welcomed by their family members at the military base.
"I just want to say thank you all for supporting me and standing by me. It's been an amazing two years, I learned a lot, I grew a lot, I lost a lot of weight," ," Kenneth Bae said during a press conference at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Seattle, Fox News reports.
He also expressed his gratitude to President Barack Obama as well as the North Korean government for releasing him.
The President said that it was "a wonderful day" for the men and their families. "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," President Barack Obama said, New York Daily News reports.
Experts believe that this move by North Korea might be an attempt to improve its image on the human rights front. A recent report released by the United Nations had stated that the reclusive country indulged in acts like rape, torture, executions as well as forced labor in its prison camps; and such actions amounted to "widespread, systematic and gross" human rights violations.
