The number of
Americans detained in North Korea rose to three last week, as Pyongyang announced that it is holding yet another a U.S. citizen, Jeffrey Edward
Fowle.
In addition to Fowle, the North also has Matthew Todd Miller, who sought to defect upon arrival, and Korean-American Kenneth Bae, who was sentenced to 15 years of “hard labor” for anti-state religious proselytizing.
The North’s rare act of holding multiple Americans at the same time is widely viewed as an attempt
to place asymmetric pressure on the United States, a step that follows the decision to play the “new nuclear test” card earlier this year, and to offer up a
torrent of criticism at inquiries into human rights issues by the UN, which
the U.S. government strongly supports.
The North has long used detainee matters as a way of inciting negotiations with the United States. This could readily be seen in the timing of the trial of Bae, or the way former U.S. President Bill Clinton visited Pyongyang in 2009 to retrieve two American journalists.
“We know that North
Korea’s aim is to increase its negotiating power by detaining Americans, and
they are going to keep increasing the numbers,” IBK Economic Research Institute
researcher Cho Bong Hyun commented. “Ultimately, the North’s move to extend the
period of their detention is a movement to draw the U.S. government into
following its plan.”
One high-ranking defector added to this, “Kim Jong Eun’s regime is three years old, and
yet he hasn’t yet been able to meet any senior officials to date. He is aiming
to use their release to get a U.S. official to visit. He can use such a visit
to propagate the point that ‘America came to the Marshal bowing its head’.”
However, all three of the detained Americans entered North Korea as tourists,
which problematizes the idea that external relations are the only motivation. In particular, over the last few years the
North has relied on developing tourism for the purpose of earning foreign currency.
This reinforces the point that there is a dual domestic element to the
policy of detentions. In seeking to stamp out elements that appear to threaten the regime, Pyongyang is explicitly placing internal stability and regime solidarity before the damage to its image that is caused by detaining foreign tourists on questionable pretexts.
“The move is a warning to North Koreans not to have contact
with any Christians or foreigners at this time, when outside information is
entering the country via cell phones and such,” Cho agreed. “Kim Jong Eun is
showing the people his determination to achieve internal stability by
consistently promoting the idea that ‘foreigners are continuously slandering
our regime’.”
