Joy as dad held prisoner for six months gets home

By Jon Herskovitz

THIS is the moment American Jeffrey Fowle, detained in North Korea for the past six months, returned home to his family.

Mr Fowle (56) hugged his children on the tarmac of Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Fairborn, Ohio.

He had been one of three Americans held by Pyongyang, which typically has tried to use the release of foreign captives as a way to build domestic political support for its leaders.

"Jeff would like you to know that he was treated well," his lawyer said.

Mr Fowle needs time to adjust to his life back home before addressing the media.

North Korea, where health problems around young leader Kim Jong Un have raised question about his grip on power, tried to show that the release came after pleading from Washington.

Mr Fowle was arrested in May for leaving a Bible at a sailor's club in the North Korean city of Chongjin.

The isolated state, which tries to portray the Kim family that has ruled it for more than 60 years as demigods, is particularly sensitive to religious proselytising.

hnews@herald.ie