Three Americans who have been detained in North Korea appealed today to the U.S. to send a senior representative to secure their release.In interviews with CNN and The Associated Press, Kenneth Bae, Jeffrey Fowle and Matthew Miller detailed the conditions of their imprisonment and urged a quick resolution of their situations.Bae, a Christian missionary, has been detained the longest. He was arrested in late 2012 and tried and convicted to 15 years of hard labor for the attempted overthrow of North Korea's communist regime. The 46-year-old has diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney stones. He told CNN that he worked eight hours a day, six days a week at a labor camp, and that he had been suffering from "failing health" over the past 1 ½ months."I've been going back and forth between hospital and to the labor camp for the last year and a half," he said.Fowle, 56, was detained in June. At the time, North Korean media said he "acted in violation of the DPRK law, contrary to the purpose of tourism during his stay." CNN says he is accused of leaving a Bible in a hotel where he was staying."Within a month I could be sharing a jail cell with Ken Bae," Fowle told the AP.Miller was picked up in April, arrested for what the North called "rash behavior." He is accused of tearing up his tourist visa and seeking asylum in the North.He told CNN he wanted to tell the U.S. "my situation is very urgent, that very soon I am going to trial, and I would directly be sent to prison." He declined to comment on the claim that he sought asylum in the North.Fowle and Miller both said they expected their trials to start in the next month. They both said they do not know what specific charges they face. But both, along with Bae, have signed statements admitting their guilt.Here's more from the AP on the conditions under which the interviews were conducted:
The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang acts as the U.S.' protecting power in North Korea, and its diplomats have met the Americans regularly, the statement said. Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.