As I am sure every knows our citizens have been released.  Here is my initial assessment.

Short answer is I wonder what agreements have been made behind the scenes - we should never forget that north Korea conducts blackmail diplomacy and every action (provocation or illegal detention of Americans) is designed to obtain political and economic concessions.

It is surprising the DNI was chosen for this but that was probably the compromise; e.g., someone of sufficient stature that allows the regime to say that the Americans came to Korea to kowtow for the release of its "criminals."  It will be interesting to read the propaganda in KCNA over the next few days.  But the DNI may only be the visible concession.  The question is what is happening behind the scenes.

The alternative story could be along two lines.  The Administration's policy of strategic patience has backed the north against the wall and they are forced to make some kind of concessions to try to restart dialogue, thus the reason of the release.  Or the UN Commission of Inquiry's report on north Korean human rights atrocities (which is unprecedented) has forced them to do something to make them look better in the eyes of the international community (but which it has never cared about in the past and has never influenced its past decision making).

So there are basically three explanations.  I do not think the regime has changed so therefore I am skeptical about the second and third explanations above and I think that the north may very well have received some kind of political and economic concessions in response to its continued blackmail diplomacy.  I just do not think the DNI coming to get our Americans is enough. It was important to achieve the release but there is likely more behind the scenes.

V/R

Dave

8 November 2014 Last updated at 11:48 ET

North Korea frees detained US men Miller and Bae

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29967561

Kenneth Bae (left) had been held for two years and Matthew Miller for seven months

Continue reading the main story

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Two Americans who were being held in detention in North Korea, Matthew Todd Miller and Kenneth Bae, have been released and are on their way home.

US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper travelled to North Korea and is accompanying the men back, the US has confirmed.

A third US citizen, Jeffrey Fowle, was freed last month and no Americans are now being held in North Korea.

US President Barack Obama said he was "grateful" for their safe return.

He said it was "a wonderful day" for the men and their families.

The US had accused North Korea of using its citizens as pawns in a diplomatic game. Pyongyang denies the accusations.

'Hostile acts'

Mr Clapper travelled to North Korea for direct talks with the authorities.

Mr Obama said: "I appreciate the director doing a great job on what was obviously a challenging mission."

The BBC's Charles Scanlon says that the contact will lead to hope of a breakthrough in the long diplomatic deadlock between the two sides.

The US department of state said in a statement that it "welcomes the release of US citizens Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller from the DPRK [North Korea], where they have been held for two years and seven months, respectively".

Jeffrey Fowle, who reportedly left a Bible in a toilet, flew home in October

It added: "The United States has long called on DPRK authorities to release these individuals on humanitarian grounds. We join their families and friends in welcoming them home."

The son of Kenneth Bae told Reuters: "It's awesome. Couldn't be happier."

One US official told Associated Press news agency that nothing was offered in return for the releases.

The official said that the releases had not changed the US view of North Korea's nuclear programme and that the North should show a serious commitment to denuclearisation and improved human rights.

The US thanked Sweden, which serves as the US protecting power in North Korea, for its efforts in the releases.

Mr Miller, 24, had been sentenced to six years' hard labour in September for what North Korean state media described as "hostile acts".

He had been in custody since 10 April when, according to North Korean sources, he destroyed his tourist visa and demanded asylum.

Mr Bae, 42, had been arrested in November 2012 as he entered the north-eastern port city of Rason, a special economic zone near North Korea's border with China.

He has been described as both a tour operator and Christian missionary. North Korea said he used his tourism business to form groups to overthrow the government.

He was sentenced to 15 years' hard labour in May 2013.

Jeffrey Fowle flew home to the US last month following negotiations.

Mr Fowle, 56, had entered North Korea in April and was detained in early June as he was leaving the country. He was charged with "anti-state" crimes.

He was reported to have left a Bible in the toilet of a restaurant in the northern port city of Chongjin.

N. Korea says B-52 bombers were behind botched trip by U.S. envoy

Should not be a surprise.  The north does not want to progress too fast in its charm (or peace offensive).  And this reinforces the north's theme that the US is the aggressor and as well as the technique of always finding an excuse for breaking an agreement by blaming others.  I think it is going to play this out with the ROK for awhile.  And as Korea expert Professor Bruce Bechtol always emphasizes the north Korean pattern for strategic action can be summed up in simplest terms this way:

1.       Rhetoric and Brinkmanship
2.       Peace Offensive
3.       Violent Provocation
4.       Denial
5.       Back to step 1

The pattern may be delayed temporarily after step 3 if concessions are provided.  We are now in step 2.

This is a pattern that the North Koreans have followed over time in the Kim Jong-il era – and are likely to do the same under KJU.

I would only add that the north has always been masterful at playing all sides against each other as well.

V/R

Dave

N. Korea says B-52 bombers were behind botched trip by U.S. envoy

http://m.yna.co.kr/mob2/en/contents_en.jsp?cid=AEN20130901000100320

2013-09-01 01:06

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   North Korea said Saturday that it had to cancel the planned weekend visit of a special U.S. envoy to the country because of fresh U.S. military provocations.

   Robert King, special envoy on North Korean human rights issues, had planned to begin a two-day visit to the communist nation on Friday to secure the release of Kenneth Bae, a 45-year-old Korean-American man serving a prison term there.

   North Korea said it had agreed to allow King's visit on humanitarian grounds but the U.S. "ruined" the atmosphere of dialogue by flying B-52H strategic bombers over the Korean Peninsula for nuclear bombing drills.

   "The strategic bombers' intrusion into the air over the Korean Peninsula is the most blatant nuclear blackmail against us and a military threat to us," the North's foreign ministry said in an English-language statement carried by the country's Korean Central News Agency.

   "The U.S. thus beclouded the hard-won atmosphere of humanitarian dialogue in a moment." it said.

   South Korea and the U.S. ended a 12-day joint military drill, called Ulchi Freedom Guardian, on Friday. It was not immediately known whether the U.S. had flown the strategic bombers during the drills.

   On Friday, Marie Harf, deputy spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, expressed disappointment over the North's abrupt decision to cancel King's trip, saying that Pyongyang did not provide a clear reason for its decision.

   North Korea claimed in the statement that it had clearly explained to the U.S. why it had canceled King's trip but U.S. officials are spreading "misinformation" about its intentions.

   "It is something surprising that the U.S. is making irrelevant remarks that it was surprised by our action," the North's statement said.

(Continued at the link below)

http://m.yna.co.kr/mob2/en/contents_en.jsp?cid=AEN20130901000100320

Bae from North Korean prison: Please help me

Despite statements to the contrary Bae is very much a bargaining chip and the north likely allowed this interview as part of its ongoing blackmail diplomacy campaign.

I think this paragraph is also an illustration of the warning the north intended to send with this case against those who would advocate supporting the growing resistance within the north through the conduct of an unconventional warfare campaign.  Whether Bae was actually conducting these activities, I think the north is very fearful of an UW campaign conducted against it.  This paragraph actually provides some insight into some of the things the north fears most (unconventional warfare, psychological operations, political warfare, even "religious" warfare as it knows the potential power of real religion over Juche):

North Korean media has detailed the reasons why Bae was sentenced. Among the list of alleged crimes was 1) setting up bases in China for the "purpose of toppling the DPRK government," 2) encouraging DPRK citizens to bring down its government and 3) conducting a "malignant smear campaign." KCNA added that Bae had planned what it called a "Jericho operation" to bring down North Korea through religious activities. It suggested that Bae could have been sentenced to death, but avoided it through "candid confession of his crimes."

V/R

Dave

Bae from North Korean prison: Please help me

By Madison Park, CNN

updated 7:09 AM EDT, Wed July 3, 2013

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/03/world/asia/kenneth-bae-korea-interview/

Video shows American jailed in N. Korea

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• U.S. citizen Kenneth Bae spoke to pro-North Korea, Japan media Choson Sinbo
• In interview, he asks for U.S. and North Korea's help to release him
• Bae appears thinner and breaks down when speaking of his father
• Bae was sentenced 15 years of hard labor in North Korea

(CNN) -- The American citizen sentenced to 15 years in a North Korean labor camp, has appealed to the Korean authorities for forgiveness and asked the United States for help in securing his release in an exclusive interview from prison obtained Wednesday by CNN.

Pae Jun Ho, known as Kenneth Bae by U.S. authorities, was found guilty in an April 30 trial of "hostile acts to bring down its government" and planning anti-North Korea religious activities, according to the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"Although my health is not good, I am being patient and coping well," Bae said. "And I hope that with the help of the North Korean government and the United States, I will be released soon."

In the interview footage, his head was shaved and his face noticeably thinner than the previous photos of the Korean-American. Wearing a blue prison garment streaked with sweat and dirt, Bae's uniform bore the number 103.

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"I know what I did is not easily forgivable, but I hope that things will work out so that I can be with my family again soon," Bae continued.

The video was obtained by Tokyo-based pro-North Korean newspaper, Choson Sinbo, which interviewed Bae in prison recently. The interview is believed to be the first since Bae's sentencing about two months ago.

Choson Sinbo was permitted to conduct the interview by North Korea. The edited footage, which runs less than eight minutes, was made available to CNN.

The timing of the Bae interview comes after North Korea proposed high-level talks with the United States last month. Washington does not appear to be rushing towards talks, as it has previously stated that Pyongyang must take concrete steps to denuclearize as a pre-condition.

However, North Korea has stated before that Bae is not a "political bargaining chip" through KCNA.

The United States has called on the North to grant Bae amnesty, citing concerns about the lack of transparency in the North Korean legal system

"There is no greater priority for us than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad and we urge the DPRK authorities to grant Mr. Bae amnesty and immediate release," said Brent Byers, spokesperson at the U.S. Embassy in South Korea. He added that the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang, which represents U.S. interests there, has met with Bae six times since his arrest.

In the interview, Bae sat in a room next to a door and a radiator. He calmly described his current prison life as eight hours of farm labor -- which he had never done before -- with a break in the middle of the day and lunch. He was also filmed clearing the fields, wearing black gloves and a hat as a guard stood watch nearby.

When asked if prison life was bearable, Bae replied, "Yes, people here are very considerate. But my health is not in the best condition, so there are some difficulties. But, everyone here is considerate and generous, and we have doctors here, so I'm getting regular check-ups."

He spoke of health problems including diabetes, high blood pressure, fatty liver and a back problem.

Bae spoke stoically throughout the interview conducted in Korean. But his eyes welled with tears when he spoke about his father's upcoming 70th birthday on July 4 — American Independence Day holiday.

"I was hoping that my problem would be worked out by end of June. So my hope is that North Korea will forgive, and the U.S. will try harder to get me out speedily. I'm asking for their help."

He paused and bowed his head, blinking back tears. As he tried to compose himself, he spoke between deep breaths.

(Continued at the link below)

http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/03/world/asia/kenneth-bae-korea-interview/