Quote:
Originally Posted by shcisamax
He is one of the two who returned from N. Korea. Many months back, it was reported he arrived in N. Korea, tore up his tourist visa, and announced he was seeking asylum. Unlike the other freed American who was there for two years, he has not been interviewed. Anyone know what the story behind this is?
|
according to the Wall Street Journal:
Mr. Miller, a native of Bakersfield, Calif., was serving a six-year prison sentence on charges of espionage, after allegedly ripping up his tourist visa at the airport in Pyongyang in April and requesting asylum. North Korea said Mr. Miller wanted to experience prison life to secretly investigate North Korea’s human rights climate.
Matthew Todd Miller, a 24-year-old from Bakersfield, Calif., was arrested in April after entering North Korea on a privately-organized tour. According to North Korea’s state media, Mr. Miller ripped up his visa when he arrived in Pyongyang and said that he was seeking asylum. Instead, the North imprisoned him and sentenced him to six years of hard labor, saying that he wanted to become a “second Snowden” by investigating North Korea’s prison system -- a reference to Edward Snowden, the U.S. intelligence contractor who became a fugitive after leaking classified government documents.
Mr. Miller, who during a September television interview, said that he was being treated humanely but was being kept in isolation. Mr. Miller’s family has not issued any public statements on his imprisonment, but a Reuters report found that Mr. Miller, whose brother was serving in the U.S. military, based in South Korea, may have sparked his fascination with the country. Mr. Miller came to South Korea and taught English, before seeking to travel to the North.
for more click here
Americans Matthew Todd Miller And Kenneth Bae Return to U.S. After Being Freed by North Korea - WSJ - WSJ