Voice of America (VOA) reported Thursday that the North Korean regime said it will only release Kenneth Bae, a Korean American detained in the North, if an incumbent or former U.S. president visits the country.
 
Bae Myung-hee, the mother of the 46-year-old Christian missionary, said in a telephone interview with the VOA that her son mentioned the North’s request several times to her in both a letter and over the phone in June 2013.
 
The mother said the North will consider releasing her son when Former U.S. President Bill Clinton or someone equivalent visits the communist state. Clinton visited North Korea in 2009 to secure the release of two American female journalists detained in the North. The mother said the North claims her son’s charge is heavier than the charges on which the North accused the two female journalists.
 
Kenneth Bae was detained in the North in 2012 and has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for an unspecified crime against the regime.