Plan B Forum

The American who tore up his own tourist visa on landing in North Korea and demanded to be arrested so that he could experience prison life in the communist nation has been sentenced to six years hard labor for entering the country illegally to commit espionage.



Matthew Miller, 24, of Bakersfield, California, looked thin and pale at his trial in Pyongyang on Sunday, as he was handed out his sentence. Miller, who looked thin and pale at the trial and was dressed completely in black, is one of three Americans now being held in North Korea. Showing no emotion throughout the proceedings, Miller waived the right to a lawyer and was handcuffed before being led from the courtroom after his sentencing.

The court, comprising a chief judge flanked by two 'people's assessors,' ruled it would not hear any appeals to its decision. Earlier, it had been believed that Miller had sought asylum when he entered North Korea. During the trial, however, the prosecution argued that was a ruse and that Miller also falsely claimed to have secret information about the U.S. military in South Korea on his iPad and iPod. Miller was charged under Article 64 of the North Korean criminal code, which is for espionage and can carry a sentence of five to 10 years, though harsher punishments can be given for more serious cases.

Last 2 Americans held in North Korea freed, heading home

(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, last-second 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.

Clapper delivered a letter from Obama, addressed to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, describing Clapper as "his personal envoy" to bring the Americans home, a senior administration official told CNN on Saturday.

The letter was "short and to the point," the official said. Clapper did not meet with Kim.

Clapper had no guarantee he would bring the Americans home, a senior State Department official told CNN.

China assisted in the monthslong process of arranging the release, the official said.

Clapper's visit came after North Korea contacted the U.S. government out of the blue and urged the administration to send a Cabinet-level official to North Korea's capital to discuss the detained Americans, according to two sources close to the matter.

Clapper ended up canceling an event in New York on Wednesday as the trip was being arranged, an Obama administration official said. He went to Pyongyang "prepared to listen" on other issues, but that his sole focus was to bring Bae and Miller home, according to the same official.

In fact, an official in Clapper's office said the talks didn't even touch on North Korea's controversial nuclear program. And other U.S. officials said there was no "quid pro quo" for the men's release.