American Who Was Detained in North Korea Over Bible Has Advice for Trump
Jeffrey Fowle, who was jailed in North Korea, advised Donald Trump against taking military action against the hermit state over the death of Otto Warmbier. The 59-year-old farmer and carpenter urged the president to also consider the safety of four other North American prisoners languishing in that country.
A devout Christian, Fowle was arrested in the port city of Chongjin in May 2014 for leaving a Bible in a nightclub. Proselytizing is considered a crime in North Korea. He was released six months later after admitting he attempted to the crime. He was flown home on a U.S. military jet in October of that year.
Fowle said he understood Trump's anger on the fate that befell Warmbier but advised against taking aggressive action to avenge the victim's death. He is concerned that Kim Jong-un might retaliate and publicly execute three Americans and a Canadian who are still detained in North Korea.
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Warmbier spent 17 months in prison in North Korea for allegedly trying to steal a propaganda poster from a hotel. He was released and flown back to the U.S. early this month in a coma. He expired in the hospital days later. This is the first time a U.S. citizen died from injuries sustained during captivity in that communist country.
Fowle said it's possible that Kim purposely sent Warmbier home to avoid him dying on North Korean soil. He also doubts that the 22-year-old college student was poisoned or tortured. Doctors found that he sustained extensive brain damage, but the communist regime claimed he suffered from botulism.
Fowle, a father of three, didn't undergo physical torture based on his own experience in a North Korean prison. The worst part of his imprisonment was being put into solitary confinement 23 hours a day, which, for him, was mental torture. "I wasn't beaten and for the first few weeks was held in a hotel," he said.
