Posted on 09/20/2014 3:02:29 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
North Korea says imprisoned American tried to become 'second Snowden'
By James Pearson
SEOUL Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:10pm EDT
(Reuters) - An American recently sentenced to six years hard labor by a North Korean court pretended to have secret U.S. information and was deliberately arrested in a bid to become famous and meet U.S. missionary Kenneth Bae in a North Korean prison, state media said on Saturday.
Matthew Miller, 25, of Bakersfield, California, had prepared his story in advance and written in a notebook that he was seeking refuge after failing in an attempt to collect information about the U.S. government, state media said.
"He perpetrated the above-said acts in the hope of becoming a 'world famous guy' and the 'second Snowden' through intentional hooliganism," KCNA said, referring to former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, wanted by the United States for leaking secrets of its surveillance programs.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
P!
Not a second Bradley “Chelsea” Manning?
Judging from the photo, I would suggest we leave him there.
I don’t believe a word they say. What’s really going on?
It could be exactly what you see..
A whack job...looking for attention..
Apparently nobody here is telling a different story. Not sure I buy the Snowden comparison but the guy appears to be a detached x-pat drifter.
Reuters reported this week that he spent months in South Korea pretending to be an Englishman named "Preston Somerset" and invested time and money hiring artists to help create his own anime adaption of Alice in Wonderland, the Lewis Carroll fantasy with which he seemed fascinated, according to acquaintances.
I think he is a little flaky.
I hope Obammy doesn’t spend any money on this...Ferguson needs it!
Expect him to make this his cause. Forget the vet sitting in Mexican prison.
“I think he is a little flaky. “
I think he is a little fairy.
All I know is that the guy is a mental case
Add this to the “List of things not to try in North Korea, Vol. XIV”
I wonder where his money came from? I read that people didn’t think he had a job during his 6 mos in S.Korea.
I haven’t read anything about his family or anyone coming forward to plead for him.
I don’t think he’s going to last long in hard labor camp.
I wrote 6 months, but I’m not sure that’s right. May have been less.
His family background is a mystery so far. Maybe he was disowned by his family. Who knows?
more from another article.....
“Miller is a 2008 graduate of Bakersfield High School, according to CNN affiliate KBAK.
A few classmates told CNN that Miller seemed like an average kid. Two said they barely remembered him because he was so quiet.
In a July interview, a neighbor told The Associated Press that Miller went to South Korea about four years ago to visit his brother and that he found a job teaching English.
He traveled to North Korea this year after arranging a private tour through the U.S.-based company Uri Tours, which takes tourists into North Korea.”
It also said that his family in Calif. asked other family & neighbors/friends not to talk about him.
Interesting.
I don’t know if it’s the case here, but I think the State Dept instructs family to keep quiet in these cases.
It’s always the wrong thing to do when it comes to dealing with someone arrested in Iran. I doubt it makes much difference in N.Korea
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