(CNN) — Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller have been allowed to leave North Korea “and are on their way home,” the U.S. government announced Saturday, leaving no more Americans detained in the reclusive East Asian nation.
The pair were released after a rare trip by a top American official — U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper — to Pyongyang as an envoy of President Barack Obama, a senior State Department official told CNN. The official said that there was no “quid pro quo” for the men’s release.
In a statement Saturday, Clapper’s office said the U.S. government is facilitating the two men’s return home, though it was not immediately clear when they would arrive back in the United States.
“We welcome (North Korea’s decision to release both Mr. Bae and Mr. Miller,” the office said. “We want to thank our international partners, especially … the government of Sweden, for their tireless efforts to help secure their release.”
The U.S. State Department issued its own statement, saying, “We join their families and friends in welcoming them home.”
The Americans’ departure from North Korea comes less than a month after North Korea released Jeffrey Fowle, an Ohio man who spent five months in detention. North Korean authorities took Fowle into custody after he allegedly left a Bible at a club for foreign sailors.
Bae had been held since late 2012, and in April 2013 was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for “hostile acts” against the North Korean government. North Korea claimed that Bae was part of a Christian plot to overthrow the regime.
The Lynwood, Washington, resident operated a China-based company specializing in tours of North Korea, according to family members, who have described him as a devout Christian.
‘He’s not a spy,’ Bae’s sister says after conviction
Earlier this year, Bae — who was transferred to a hospital last year — told a Swedish diplomat that he was worried about his health.
Miller had been detained since April. According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, he was convicted in September of committing “acts hostile” to North Korea and sentenced to six years of hard labor. He’s been accused of tearing up his tourist visa and seeking asylum upon entry into North Korea.
American Miller convicted, sentenced
In September, all three Americans then detained in North Korea — Bae, Fowle and Miller — talked with CNN in Pyongyang for about five minutes apiece.
All said they’d signed statements admitting their guilt, did not complain about their living conditions and asked for U.S. help.
Americans detained in North Korea talk to CNN
The interviews — which CNN learned about only after being shuttled on a van to a secret location — were monitored and recorded by North Korean officials.
CNN could not independently confirm details of the three Americans’ detention or other facts about their cases, in part because of the secrecy that defines much of North Korea’s dealings with the world.
That includes the Communist nation’s much-maligned quest to develop nuclear weapons, something that has put it at odds with the United States, South Korea and many other countries around the world. North Korea has been subject to stringent international sanctions aimed at curbing its nuclear aspirations.
The State Department official said that Bae and Miller’s release is “unrelated” to other U.S. issues involving North Korea.
The United States welcomes the move, but if North Korea wants a better relationship with the world it needs to “show it is serious and prepared to abide by its commitments, particularly concerning denuclearization,” the official said. “And they must take significant steps to improve their human rights record.”
Yet Gordon Chang, the author of “Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World,” opines something must have changed in Pyongyang’s philosophy to justify releasing three American detainees in less than a month.
“I think right now there is a charm offensive,” Chang told CNN.
