Ohio man is set free by N. Korea
CINCINNATI — News that an Ohio man had been freed from North Korea after being detained there for nearly six months triggered the same response in his wife and former co-workers: Delight.
Jeffrey Fowle’s wife cried out with joy, the family’s attorney said Tuesday. And a manager in the suburban Dayton city where Fowle formerly worked said they were “delighted to hear the news.”
The State Department announced Tuesday that the 56-year-old Miamisburg resident was released nearly a half-year after he was taken into custody after leaving a Bible at a nightclub. He had been awaiting trial.
Attorney Timothy Tepe said Fowle was able to later call his wife himself on his way home. He was expected to arrive in Ohio today, his former employer said in a statement.
Two other Americans who have been convicted of crimes in North Korea are still being held.
There was no explanation for the release of Fowle, who was whisked to the U.S. territory of Guam before heading back to his wife and three children.
Relations between Washington and Pyongyang, never warm, are at a particularly low point, and the U.S. has sought unsuccessfully for months to send a high-level representative to North Korea to negotiate acquittals for all three men.
In Berlin, Secretary of State John Kerry said “there was no quid pro quo” for the release of Fowle.
“We are very concerned about the remaining American citizens who are in North Korea, and we have great hopes that North Korea will see the benefit of releasing them also as soon as possible,” Kerry told reporters.
Moraine, the city where Fowle worked as a streets department employee, terminated his employment last month.
“We’re delighted to hear the news and look forward to him returning to the community and his family,” David Hicks, Moraine’s city manager, said Tuesday. He didn’t discuss Fowle’s employment.
The Dayton Daily News reported last month that the city said Fowle’s termination included $70,000 in severance pay and the ability to be reinstated.
State Department deputy spokesman Marie Harf said Fowle was seen by doctors and appeared to be in good medical health. She declined to give more details about his release except to thank the government of Sweden, which has an embassy in Pyongyang, for its “tireless efforts.”
Harf would not say whether any American officials had intervened directly with the North Koreans.
