Kim Hak Song (not pictured) was detained in North Korea ‘on suspicion of acts against the state’ on May 6, according to the state news agency.
In June, North Korean state media said the country will not negotiate with the US over the Americans citizens it had captive, until former detainee Kenneth Bae stops publicly talking about his time in prison. North Korea arrested Bae, a US missionary, in November 2012 and sentenced him to 15 years’ hard labour for crimes against the state. He was released two years later, along with Jeffrey Edward Fowle and Matthew Todd Miller after James Clapper, then the director of national intelligence, made a secret visit to Pyongyang. has written an account of his detention in a memoir and spoken about his experiences at several public appearances – to the fury of Kim Jong Un and North Korea officials. Richardson told Fox News, ‘in the past, we could talk to (Kim Jong Un’s) father [Kim Jong-il] when he was the president and you could make deals, but now there’s just like silence. There’s nothing coming back.’
