Japan’s Kyodo News Agency, citing unidentified diplomatic sources, reported that Fowle was part of a tour group and that he was detained in mid-May as he was about to depart North Korea and that he had left a Bible in his hotel room, according to CNN and The New York Times.
“American citizen Jeffrey Edward Fowle entered the DPRK as a tourist on April 29 and acted in violation of the DPRK law, contrary to the purpose of tourism during his stay,” KCNA reported, referring to the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The State Department confirmed an American was detained, but did not identify him or provide details for privacy issues.
Timothy Tepe, an attorney who is acting as a spokesman for Fowle’s family, told the Associated Press the family would issue a statement on Monday and not comment until then, “given the sensitive nature of Jeff’s situation.” Fowle’s father and other relatives declined to speak Friday.
“This is a very fluid situation that has just come to light and they need time to process it,” Tepe said.
Tepe said Fowle was not on a mission for his church, Urbancrest Baptist Church in Lebanon, and that he was just visiting North Korea as a tourist.
In March, North Korea deported an Australian missionary detained for spreading Christianity there after he apologized for anti-state religious acts and requested forgiveness.
Mark Edward Howard, who attends Fowle’s church, described him as “a very good Christian father, a very loving father to his children.”
He said that Fowle’s wife, Tatyana Fowle, 40, is a Russian immigrant with limited English, and that Jeff Fowle always stayed close to her side in case she needed a translation. She works locally as a cosmetologist.
“They are pretty much inseparable,” Howard said. “You never see him not by her side. They’re a very nice family.”
Moraine City Manager David Hicks said Fowle is a long-time city employee in the street maintenance department. Hicks said he and other city officials have agreed to not comment on the issue at the request of the family’s attorney.
In a 2010 Dayton Daily News story, Fowle shared how he met his wife after leafing through a singles’ magazine and corresponding with potential brides in other countries. He said he met Tatyana in 1999, and they corresponded for about a year before marrying in September 2000. The couple had three children in their first five years of marriage.
Three members of Ohio’s congressional delegation said they have been talking to the State Department to gather more information.
Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Cincinnati, who chairs of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Subcommittee for Asia and the Pacific, has been monitoring the Fowle situation, said spokesman Brian Griffith.
“The details are kind of sketchy,” Griffith said. “But our office is in contact with the State Department to find out what they know and what they can do.”
Both Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, expressed concern Friday.
In a statement, Turner said he was “deeply troubled by the detainment of American and Miamisburg resident Jeffery Edward Fowle, by the authoritarian government of North Korea.
“We have been in contact with the State Department and will continue to carefully monitor Fowle’s detainment as we await the release of additional information.”
Brown said in a statement that “the detention of any American citizen in North Korea concerns me, especially one with Ohio ties.” He said he “will work closely with state as we learn more about this case. My thoughts are with Mr. Fowle and his family, and I will be sure the State Department does everything it can to ensure the safety of U.S. citizens abroad.”
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said there’s “no greater priority for us than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad.”
Harf did not say whether Sweden, which handles consular matters for Americans in North Korea, had been granted access to the detained American. She said that the department has a warning against travel to North Korea and that being part of a tour group will not prevent a possible arrest.
Fowle is currently the third American citizen being held in North Korea.
In April, a 24-year-old American man was detained for alleged improper behavior while entering North Korea. The tourist agency he traveled with identified him as Matthew Miller. North Korea said he entered the country on April 10 with a tourist visa, but tore it up and shouted that he wanted to seek asylum. The brief report said he chose the North “as a shelter.”
North Korea also has been holding a Korean-American missionary, Kenneth Bae, since November 2012. Bae was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for what the North says were hostile acts against the state.
North Korea has been pushing to promote tourism as part of efforts to earn badly needed foreign currency, but the country is also extremely sensitive about how visitors act while in the country.
The Associated Press and staff writers Nick Blizzard and Meredith Moss contributed to this report.
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