Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 2014)
U.S.A. Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER November 17, 2014 American freed by North Korea asked for pizza By Donna Blankinship and Josh Lederman The Associated Press S EATTLE — Kenneth Bae arrived home after two years of imprisonment in North Korea, expressing his gratitude to the U.S. government for securing his release and revealing that his time there offered lessons. And his sister said that he had one stipulation for his first meal back home: No Korean food. “He said, ‘I don’t want Korean food, that’s all I’ve been eating for the last two years,’” Terri Chung said outside her Seattle church. “We had a late night eating pizza.” Bae and Matthew Miller, another American who had been held captive in North Korea, landed the evening of November 8 at a Washington state military base after a top U.S. intelligence official secured their release. “It’s been an amazing two years, I learned a lot, I grew a lot, I lost a lot of weight,” Bae, a Korean-American mis- sionary with health problems, said at Joint Base Lewis- McChord. Asked how he was feeling, he said, “I’m recovering at this time.” Bae, surrounded by family members, spoke briefly to the media after the plane carrying him and Miller landed. He thanked U.S. President Barack Obama and the people who supported him and his family. He also thanked the North Korean government for releasing him. “I just want to say thank you all for supporting me and standing by me,” Bae said. His family has said he suffers from diabetes, an enlarged heart, liver problems, and back pain. Chung said Bae was in better shape when he arrived than his family expected. She said he had spent about six weeks in a North Korean hospital before he returned. “That helped. As you know, he had gone back and forth between the labor camp and hospital,” she said. She said he was checked out by a doctor on the flight back to the United States. His plans for the near future include rest and food and reconnecting with friends and family. Neither his wife nor his children could make it back to Seattle in time for Bae’s homecoming, his sister said. They plan to gather the whole family together for the Thanksgiving holiday, she said. Members of Bae’s family, who live near the sprawling military base south of Seattle, met him when he landed. His mother hugged him after he got off the plane. Miller stepped off the U.S. government aircraft a short time later and also was greeted with hugs. U.S. officials said Miller, of Bakersfield, California, and Bae, of Lynnwood, Washington, flew back with James Clapper, the director of national intelligence. Clapper was the highest-ranking American to visit Pyongyang in more than a decade. Their release was the latest twist in the fitful relationship between the Obama administration and the young North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, whose approach to the U.S. has shifted back and forth from defiance to occasional conciliation. A senior Obama administration official said the president approved the mission and U.S. officials spent several days planning the trip. Clapper spent roughly a day on the ground and met with North Korean security officials — but not with Kim, the official said aboard Air Force One as Obama prepared to head to Beijing. Clapper went with the sole purpose of bringing home the two detainees, although the U.S. anticipated that other issues of concern to the North would come up during Clapper’s discussions, the official said. “It was not to pursue any other diplomatic opening,” said the official, who wasn’t authorized to comment by name and demanded anonymity. The U.S. had considered sending someone from outside the government to retrieve the detainees, the official said, but suggested Clapper after the North Koreans indicated in recent weeks that they would release the detainees if the U.S. sent a high-level official from Obama’s administration. Analysts who study North Korea said the decision to free Bae and Miller now from long prison terms probably was a bid to ease pressure in connection with its human- rights record. A recent U.N. report documented rape, tor- ture, executions, and forced labor in the North’s network of prison camps, accusing the government of “widespread, systematic, and gross” human-rights violations. North Korea seems worried that Kim could be accused in the International Criminal Court, said Sue Mi Terry, a former senior intelligence analyst now at Columbia University. “This human-rights thing is showing itself to be an unexpected leverage for the U.S.,” she said. Bruce Klingner, a former CIA analyst now at the Heritage Foundation, agreed that efforts to shine a spotlight on the country’s human-rights record “startled the regime and led to frantic attempts to derail the process.” Bae was serving a 15-year sentence for alleged anti- government activities. He was detained in 2012 while leading a tour group to a North Korea economic zone. Miller was serving a six-year jail term on charges of Juneau gets a new sister city in the Philippines JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Juneau has a new sister city. Community representatives have made official a sister- city relationship with Kalibo, which is in the Aklan province of the Philippines. Both communities have economic and social similarities: They are tourism centers and capital cities. Roughly 800 of the 3,000 Filipinos living in Juneau are from Aklan, KTOO reported. Alex Carrillo said Juneau’s bond with Kalibo is more than a sign of goodwill toward the Philippines. “Filipinos are a big part of Juneau, I think. And it just shows that the city of Juneau really appreciates us,” he said. While in Juneau, the Kalibo delegation visited the Men- denhall Glacier, Shrine of St. Therese, and local businesses. Some expressed hope that the relationship will encourage the cities to share goods, services, and information, and that tourism would get a boost. Dr. Makarius Dela Cruz, Kalibo’s municipal health officer, said the Aklan province needs support to provide better healthcare to its residents, and the local government in Juneau could help with that. John Pugh, chancellor of the University of Alaska Southeast, said there also could be a trade in education, including student and faculty exchanges. CAPTIVITY CONCLUDED. Kenneth Bae, left, who had been held in North Korea since 2012, hugs his mother, Myunghee Bae, after arriving at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, after he was freed during a top-secret mission by James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelli- gence. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) espionage after he allegedly ripped up his tourist visa at Pyongyang’s airport in April and demanded asylum. North Korea said Miller had wanted to experience prison life so he could secretly investigate the country’s human- rights situation. Bae and Miller were the last two Americans held captive by the reclusive Communist country. Last month, North Korea released Jeffrey Fowle of Miamisburg, Ohio, who was held for nearly six months. He reportedly left a bible in a nightclub in the hope that it would reach North Korea’s underground Christian community. Fowle said his fellow Americans’ release is “an answer to a prayer.” He said he initially thought Bae and Miller had been released with him last month. “I didn’t realize they weren’t released with me until I got on the plane,” he said. Bae and Miller had told The Associated Press that they believed their only chance of release was the intervention of a high-ranking government official or a senior U.S. statesman. Previously, former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter had gone to North Korea on separate occasions to take detainees home. Victor Cha, a North Korea expert and former national security official in the George W. Bush administration, said Clapper was the most senior U.S. official to visit North Korea since then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright went in 2000 and met with Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un’s father. Cha said sending Clapper would have satisfied North Korea’s desire for a cabinet-level visitor, while avoiding some of the diplomatic baggage of dispatching a regular U.S. government official. The U.S. and North Korea do not have formal ties, a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War that ended without a peace treaty. The detainee releases do not herald a change in U.S. posture regarding North Korea’s disputed nuclear program, the main source of tension between Pyongyang and Washington, said a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss national security matters. International aid-for-disarmament talks have been stalled since 2008. The last concerted U.S. effort to restart those negotiations collapsed in spring 2012. The U.S. notified allies of Clapper’s trip to North Korea and alerted members of the congressional leadership once his visit was underway, the official said. Chung said her brother was staying with family members and enjoyed visiting with his loved ones upon his return. “He was cut off from all of that for two years,” she said. “His only contacts were his guard, and maybe doctors and a handful of times the Swedish embassy.” Chung said she was thrilled to have her brother home and that “he bears no ill will” over his ordeal. Associated Press writers Ken Dilanian and Matthew Pennington; AP Diplomatic writer Matthew Lee; White House Correspondent Julie Pace; AP writer Nedra Pickler; AP National Security writer Lara Jakes in Muscat, Oman; and AP writer John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio contributed to this report. Oregon Christmas tree grower gives trees hot bath OREGON CITY, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon grower is giving its Christmas trees a hot bath before shipping to make sure buyers don’t get slugs and yellow jackets as unexpected presents. The Kirk Company of Oregon City sends harvested trees on conveyer belts through an enclosed washer to kill or knock off pests, the agricultural publication Capital Press reports. “What you’re trying to do with that is control hitchhikers,” said Bob Bishop, a trade specialist with the federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The trees also get moisturized and stay fresh and green longer, he said. It’s the second year the company has tried the experiment that’s drawing attention from foreign agricultural officials and other Oregon growers who are less likely than Kirk to have the water or electrical capacity to bathe trees. “Growers in general hope it doesn’t come to this,” said Chal Landgren, a Christmas tree specialist with the Oregon State University Extension Service. Oregon leads the nation in Christmas tree production with about 7 million trees sold in 2013, or 17 percent of the U.S. total, according to federal statistics. The crop is worth more than $100 million a year. Agriculture officials from the Philippines and Malaysia observed the washing process earlier this month. Kirk co-owner Gary Snyder said the Hawaiian market is his biggest concern. Inspectors in the state are leery of invasive species and require fumigation if bugs are discovered in a load of trees. “I’m shipping 75 to 80 containers to Hawaii,” Snyder said. “If less than five of them get held up for slugs, I’ll feel successful.” The Kirk Company ships about 500,000 trees a year and has operations in Oregon, Washington, North Carolina, and Nova Scotia.