American Jeffrey Fowle Released from North Korea

Published at 2:01 pm, October 21, 2014

EastIdahoNews.com Staff

iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Jeffrey Fowle, one of three Americans being held in North Korea, was abruptly allowed to leave Tuesday on a U.S. government jet.

The 56-year-old from Miamisburg, Ohio, had been charged with leaving a Bible in Chongjin last May. Proselytizing is illegal in North Korea.

A Defense Department plane carried Fowle out of the country, but it was not immediately clear when he was supposed to return home.

The site of the U.S. plane with the American flag on its tail at Pyongyang’s international airport was an unusual sight.

The State Department welcomed Fowle’s release but called on the North Korean government to release two other Americans still in the secretive country, Kenneth Bae and Matthew Miller.

Fowle’s release was negotiated with the help of Sweden since the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea.

“We thank the government of Sweden for the tireless efforts of the Embassy of Sweden in Pyongyang,” the State Department said.

Fowle will have to deal with another problem when he returns. While in a North Korean jail, he was fired from his job as an equipment operator for the city of Moraine, Ohio — a job he had for the last 26 years. The dismissal last month came with a $70,000 severance package.

“At some point, you have to return to work,” Moraine City Manager David Hicks told ABC News.

Hicks noted that Fowle was a union employee.

“Although he was terminated, he has the ability to apply at any point in the next year and he would be immediately reinstated into his position,” he said.

Hicks said that the city kept his wife and children on Fowle’s health insurance after his termination, and said Fowle would be welcome back at his job.