| N. Korea Allows Detained Bae Consular Access |
| 2014-08-13 Updated. |
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 The Voice of America (VOA) says that North Korea has allowed consular access to Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American detained in the North, for the first time in four months.
Citing a U.S. State Department official, the VOA said that Bae met with officials from the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang on Monday.
The embassy serves as a protecting power for U.S. citizens in Pyongyang, which has no diplomatic relations with Washington.
Sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for “anti-state crimes,” Bae has been detained in the North since November 2012, and was held at a labor camp in May last year.
The 45-year-old was hospitalized in January as his health deteriorated, but the latest consular meeting confirms that he returned to the camp after receiving treatment.
Meanwhile, the family of Jeffrey Edward Fowle, another U.S. citizen detained in the North, held a news conference and asked the North Korean government to release him.
Fowle traveled to the North as a tourist and was detained on charges of leaving a Bible at a hotel in Pyongyang.
Another American, Matthew Todd Miller, has also been held in the North since April under charges of alleged misbehavior upon entering the country.
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