Time stands still, freedom comes fast in North Korea, say Americans once held there
Freedom can come with remarkable swiftness for U.S. citizens held prisoner by North Korea, an experience that may await three Americans currently detained by the reclusive nation. After months and even years of hardship, former detainees often say they found themselves boarding a U.S. plane and flown out of the country less than an hour after being told by their captors that they were going home. Ahead of a diplomatic thaw and planned summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, there were reports the detainees were relocated from a labour camp to a hotel near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, raising speculation they could be released. “They didn’t tell me anything about my release until the last minute. I was in the hospital and taken to a hotel,” the longest-held American in North Korea, Kenneth Bae, said in an interview from South Korea. Once informed of his release in 2014, an American delegation came in and within 30 minutes he was ab