Three U.S. citizens detained in North Korea used their briefly granted media access to beg for government help freeing them. Kenneth Bae, Matthew Miller, and Jeffrey Fowle spoke to CNN on Monday. They were only given five minutes to speak. “My health is failing,” said Bae, 46, who was arrested 18 months ago and has been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. "I ask the U.S. government and people out there to really put in effort to send somebody, to make it work.” Miller, 24, and Fowle, 56. are awaiting trial. Both claim they are being treated well, but it is unclear whether the North Korea government was allowing the men to speak freely. Miller did note that his situation “is very urgent,” and neither knows how severe their punishments could be after sentencing. The U.S. has repeatedly offered to send a special envoy to the Hermit Kingdom to secure pardons, but North Korea has not consented. "The only hope that I have is to have someone from the U.S. come," said Bae. However, it appears that North Korea may only relent if President Obama himself makes a visit.
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