U.S. officials say North Korea has released detained Americans Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller, and they are now on their way home.

U.S. National Intelligence Director James Clapper was said to be accompanying the two U.S. citizens back to the United States, after discussing their release with North Korean authorities. The U.S. had repeatedly called on North Korea to free the men on humanitarian grounds.

President Barack Obama welcomed the two men’s release, praising Clapper “for doing a great job on what obviously was a challenging mission.” Obama commented Saturday, just after nominating Loretta Lynch as his next attorney general.

Saturday’s announcement by the State Department came less than three weeks after the unexpected release of another American, Jeffrey Fowle. Pyongyang had held the Ohio man for nearly six months after he left a Bible at a nightclub.

After Fowle’s October 21 release, Bae and Miller were the last Americans being held by the communist state. 

Bae, 46, is from Lynnwood, Washington. He was arrested two years ago, on November 3, 2012, while leading a group of tourists in the North’s northern city of Rason.

Later, Pyongyang sentenced him to 15 years of hard labor for committing “hostile acts” against the regime, making him the longest-held American in North Korea in recent years. The Korean-American missionary’s reported health problems only added to concerns about his captivity.

His family this week appealed again to the North Korean regime to release him. Relatives released a video clip on the website YouTube  wishing for Bae’s swift return home.

Miller, of Bakersfield, California, had been charged with espionage and detained since April. He was taken into custody after tearing up his tourist passport at the Pyongyang airport. He was 24 at the time.

In September, he was tried for “hostile acts” and sentenced to six years of hard labor.

 
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