Washington
\nAfter the ceasefire between North and South Korea in 1953, thousands of US troops have been stationed on the 38th parallel to watch and resist any aggression \u2014 while conducting exercises with the allies \u2014 and showing combat readiness.
\nAs there\u2019s a continued strain on the US-North Korea bilateral ties, a small number of US citizens made their way to the country in organised tours. Not all of them have happy stories to tell.
\nAccording to the US Department of State website: \u201cDo not travel to North Korea due to the continuing serious risk of arrest and long-term detention of US nationals. The US government is unable to provide emergency services to US citizens in North Korea\u201d.
\nSeveral US citizens have been taken into custody since 1996, including tourists, scholars and journalists.
\nThe US government in 2017 barred its citizens from visiting the country.
\nHere\u2019s what you should know about the most notable cases.
\nOtto Warmbier
\nA student of the University of Virginia, Otto Warmbier was detained in 2016 while on a visit to North Korea.
\nAfter two months of detention, a North Korean court sentenced Otto Warmbier to 15 years\u2019 incarceration upon charges of attempted stealing of a propaganda poster.
\n17 months after his arrest, he was released. But fell seriously ill and died in a hospital six days after coming to the US in 2017.
\nAccording to his father, he saw his son \u201cmoving around, and jerking violently, making these howling and inhuman sounds\u201d.
\nPyongyang denied any wrongdoing.
\nThe Korean Central News Agency claimed he had given medical attention \u201cwith all sincerity\u201d despite \u201cno reason to show mercy to such a criminal of the enemy state\u201d.
\nBruce Byron Lowrance, 60
\n60-year-old Bruce Byron was detained as he was illegally entering North Korea in October 2018.
\nThe man had allegedly told investigators that he believed that his visit would help diffuse geopolitical tensions between the two countries.
\nAfter a month, he was released, which is seen by US officials as an effort to improve relations with their country following high-profile talks between Kim Jong Un and then US President Donald Trump.
\nMatthew Miller, 24
\nA 24-year-old Matthew Miller from California was on his organised tour to North Korea when he was detained with a charge of espionage acts in 2014.
\nNorth Korea claimed that he admitted to a \u201cwild ambition\u201d of exploring the country and investigating conditions there. Later, he was sentenced to six years of imprisonment with hard labour.
\nHe said in his interview that much time was spent on digging in fields, moving stones and taking out weeds, but was otherwise largely kept in strict isolation.
\n\u201cI was trying to stay in the country,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThey wanted me to leave. The very first night they said, \u2018We want you to leave on the next flight.\u2019 But I refused. I just did not leave.\u201d
\nMiller said he eventually \u201cchanged his mind\u201d about seeking asylum and requested help from the US government.
\nKenneth Bae
\nA resident of Washington State Kenneth Bae was taken into custody in 2012 and was released with Miller.
\nHe was stopped and a hard drive with Christian material was discovered.
\nNorth Korea charged Bae with \u201chostile acts\u201d including attempting to establish bases for anti-government activities.
\nHe was sent to incarceration for 15 years with hard labour, escaping the death penalty only after \u201ccandid confession\u201d.
\nHis health in detention deteriorated.
\nBae was released and returned to the US along with Miller following a secret visit to Pyongyang by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
\nAfter his release, Bae wrote in his memoir that he was interrogated from 08:00 in the morning until 22pm or 23pm at night every day for the first four weeks of his imprisonment. He was asked to confess.
\nEura Lee and Laura Ling
\nNorth Korea arrested two journalists from California Eura Lee and Laura Ling. They were shooting a documentary on human conditions on China\u2019s border with the country.
\nTheir crew members escaped from detention.
\nLing said they crossed the border, saying they spent less than a minute in North Korea before attempting to turn back into China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington After the ceasefire between North and South Korea in 1953, thousands of US troops have been stationed on the 38th parallel to watch and resist any aggression \u2014 while conducting exercises with the allies \u2014 and showing combat readiness. As there\u2019s a continued strain on the US-North Korea bilateral ties, a small number of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-344169","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n