North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is using detained Americans as bargaining chips with the US

by Dramelin 5:30 AM 0 comments

What Trump`s remarks about Kim Jong Un could mean for US-North Korea relations    Tuesday, 2 May 2017 | 12:37 AM ET | 03:42 Earlier this week, state-run North Korean media said "U.
military provocations" — referring to drills carried out alongside South Korea — had left the region "close to nuclear war.
" On Friday, it also accused the CIA and South Korea of being behind a failed assassination plot targeting Kim Jong Un.
In the past, detaining — and then releasing — U.
citizens has given Pyongyang leverage in negotiations with Washington or allowed the country to offer them up as goodwill gestures to the international community, experts say.
In 2009, Kim Jong Il pardoned and freed two detained American journalists after former President Bill Clinton visited Pyongyang, giving North Korea a fleeting moment of international legitimacy.
Five years later, Kim Jong Un released U.
citizens Jeffrey Edward Fowle, Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller after James Clapper, then the director of national intelligence, made a secret visit to Pyongyang.
At the time, North Korean state media trumpeted that that three Americans were being released following the "repeated requests" of President Barack Obama.
"Such detention and then handing over after harsh sentencing and releasing after a high-level U.
official is a carefully planned tactic North Korea use," Dr.
Lee Jung Hoon, South Korea`s ambassador for North Korean human rights, told NBC News.
It`s "immoral," and "shameless," the diplomat added.
"But it is useful and they know it.
" Kim Jong Un has continued to detain American citizens, but experts note a shift in his tactics.
While Trump told Bloomberg News on Monday that he would be "honored" to meet the North Korean dictator, many analysts believe that Kim no longer even aims to hold talks with the U.
"This is North Korea`s hostage diplomacy," Dr.
"They are like the human shields against the U.
government with the ultimate goal of attention grabbing.
" Lee So Yeon, president of New Korea Women`s Union, an NGO for defectors, said American prisoners who were accused of "crimes against the state" were being used by Kim as a propaganda tool for a domestic audience.
"One stark difference between Kim Jong Un from his predecessors over hostage diplomacy is that he emphasizes publicizing detaining American citizens to the North Korean public," Lee said.
"By doing so, Kim Jong Un seems to confirm that North Korea is exposed to constant attack from the U.