An American recently sentenced to six years hard labor by a North Korean court pretended to have secret US information and was deliberately arrested in a bid to become famous and meet US missionary Kenneth Bae in a North Korean prison, state media said yesterday.
Matthew Miller, 25, of Bakersfield, California, had prepared his story in advance and written in a notebook that he was seeking refuge after failing in an attempt to collect information about the US government, state media said.
“He perpetrated the above-said acts in the hope of becoming a ‘world famous guy’ and the ‘second Snowden’ through intentional hooliganism,” Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, referring to former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, wanted by the US for leaking secrets of its surveillance programs.
“This is an intolerable insult and mockery of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] and he therefore deserved punishment,” KCNA said, using the North’s official acronym.
Miller was arrested when he tore up the tourist visa he used to enter the isolated country in April, state media said at the time.
He was sentenced to six years hard labor by a North Korean court on Sunday last week.
“The results of the investigation made it clear that he did so not because of a simple lack of understanding and psychopathology, but deliberately perpetrated such criminal acts for the purpose of directly going to prison,” state media said.
Miller’s case was exacerbated by the fact his actions followed “reckless remarks” by US Secretary of State John Kerry that described reclusive North Korea as a “country of evil,” state media said.
Kerry in February criticized North Korea as an “evil place” following the publication of an extensive human rights report by UN investigators who said North Korean security officials should be tried for crimes related to the systematic starvation, torture and imprisonment of North Koreans.
State media said Miller had deliberately sought his arrest so he could investigate North Korean prison and human rights conditions, and meet with and negotiate the release of US missionary Bae, who is serving a hard-labor sentence after being convicted of crimes against the state last year.
Unlike the two other Americans held in Pyongyang, relatively little is known about Miller, and his family has not spoken publicly about him.
Reuters reported this week that he spent months in South Korea pretending to be an Englishman named “Preston Somerset” and invested time and money hiring artists to help create his own anime adaption of Alice in Wonderland, the Lewis Carroll fantasy with which he seemed fascinated, according to acquaintances.
He did not seem to have close friends, a regular job or means of support during the months he spent in Seoul over a period of at least two years, they said.
He gave no inkling of any interest in nuclear-capable and unpredictable North Korea.
He is one of three US citizens now being held by North Korea. A third American, Jeffrey Fowle, was arrested for leaving a Bible in the toilet of a sailor’s club in the port city of Chongjin and is currently awaiting trial.
The US has said Pyongyang is using its citizens as “pawns” to win a high-level visit from Washington, which has repeatedly offered to send US Special Envoy for North Korean Human Rights Robert King to negotiate the release of Miller, Bae and Fowle.
North Korea has so far rejected those offers.
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
ALLIES: Calling Putin his ‘old friend,’ Xi said Beijing stood alongside Russia ‘in the face of the international counter-current of unilateralism and hegemonic bullying’ Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was in Moscow for a state visit ahead of the Kremlin’s grand Victory Day celebrations, as Ukraine accused Russia’s army of launching air strikes just hours into a supposed truce. More than 20 foreign leaders were in Russia to attend a vast military parade today marking 80 years since the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, taking place three years into Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and has marshaled the memory of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany to justify his campaign and rally society behind the offensive,
CONFLICTING REPORTS: Beijing said it was ‘not familiar with the matter’ when asked if Chinese jets were used in the conflict, after Pakistan’s foreign minister said they were The Pakistan Army yesterday said it shot down 25 Indian drones, a day after the worst violence between the nuclear-armed rivals in two decades. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed to retaliate after India launched deadly missile strikes on Wednesday morning, escalating days of gunfire along their border. At least 45 deaths were reported from both sides following Wednesday’s violence, including children. Pakistan’s military said in a statement yesterday that it had “so far shot down 25 Israeli-made Harop drones” at multiple location across the country. “Last night, India showed another act of aggression by sending drones to multiple locations,” Pakistan military spokesman Ahmed