Story highlights
- Sports agent makes plea to North Korea, offering himself in place of Bae
- Rep. Rangel says public effort should focus on how Bae is father, son, brother
- Kenneth Bae was recently moved from a North Korean hospital to a labor camp
- His sister, Terri Chung, says she's "deeply concerned" about the move
Kenneth Bae's sister told CNN on Saturday that her family is "deeply concerned" after learning that the imprisoned American citizen has been moved from a North Korean hospital to a labor camp.
"It's just devastating," Terri Chung said. "... We're really discouraged and concerned."
Chung spoke to CNN's Don Lemon with sports agent David Sugarman, who is pushing a new social media campaign -- using #BringBaeBack -- to raise attention about Bae, 45, and increase pressure on officials in Pyongyang to release him.
"We need to get the world and the American people behind us," said Sugarman, who represents retired NBA player Kenny Anderson. Anderson joined another retired player, Dennis Rodman, in his recent controversial visit to North Korea.
Sugarman also made a personal appeal to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
"Human to human, I'm asking you to release Kenneth Bae. I'm going to take it a step further: If the North Korea government actually needs somebody in North Korea, take David Sugarman," Sugarman said. "Allow me to go there. I'm younger. I'm healthier.
Photos: Americans detained abroad
Photos: Americans detained abroad
Kim Dong Chul, a South Korean-born American citizen detained in North Korea, is escorted to his trial April 29 in Pyongyang. A North Korean court sentenced Kim to 10 years in prison for what it called acts of subversion and espionage. North Korea watchers interpret the detainment of Americans and other foreign citizens as a collection of bargaining chips by the reclusive regime.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
University of Virginia student Otto Frederick Warmbier was detained by North Korea after being accused of carrying out "a hostile act" against the government, state media reported. In March, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for allegedly removing a political banner from a Pyongyang hotel.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Jason Rezaian, The Washington Post's bureau chief in Tehran, was released January 16 as part of a prisoner swap. Rezaian was convicted by an Iranian Revolutionary Court in October, according to Iran's state-run media. Rezaian was reportedly facing up to 20 years, but the sentence was not specified. The journalist was taken into custody in July 2014 and later charged with espionage; the Post has denied all allegations against him. His wife, Yeganeh Salehi, also was detained in July 2014 but later released.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Saeed Abedini, a U.S. citizen of Iranian birth, was freed as part of a prisoner swap that included Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian on January 16. Abedini was sentenced to eight years in prison in January 2013. He was accused of attempting to undermine the Iranian government and endangering national security by establishing home churches. He was detained in Iran on September 26, 2012, according to the American Center for Law and Justice.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine charged with spying, was freed as part of a prisoner swap that included Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian on January 16. An Iranian court threw out a 2011 death sentence for Hekmati, but he was secretly retried in Iran and convicted of "practical collaboration with the U.S. government," his sister told CNN on April 11. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, she said. Hekmati was detained in August 2011 during a visit to see his grandmother. His family and the Obama administration deny accusations he was spying for the CIA.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Siamak Namazi, a Dubai-based businessman with dual U.S. and Iranian citizenship, was detained while visiting relatives in Tehran, the Wall Street Journal reported October 29, citing unnamed sources. The Washington Post also reported his detention, citing a family friend who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Post reported that it wasn't clear what Namazi is alleged to have done. His detention would bring to five the number of Americans detained or unaccounted for in the Islamic republic.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Scott Darden was taken hostage by Houthi rebels in Yemen in March 2015. He was captured while working for New Orleans-based Transoceanic Development, according to a source close to his family.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Retired FBI agent Robert Levinson has been missing since 2007. His family says he was working as a private investigator in Iran when he disappeared, and multiple reports suggest Levinson may have been working for the CIA. His family told CNN that they have long known that Levinson worked for the CIA, and they said it's time for the government to lay out the facts about Levinson's case. U.S. officials have consistently denied publicly that Levinson was working for the government, but they have repeatedly insisted that finding him and bringing him home is a "top" priority. The FBI increased its reward for information on Levinson from $1 million to $5 million.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Mothers Linda Boyle, left, and Lyn Coleman hold photo of their married children, Joshua Boyle and Caitlin Coleman, who were kidnapped by the Taliban in late 2012. Coleman was pregnant when she was kidnapped and is believed to have had a child in captivity.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Jailed since 2013 and sentenced to life for supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Mohamed Soltan was eventually released, the U.S. Embassy in Cairo said in May 2015. Soltan's family denies he belonged to the Brotherhood. Soltan had been a dual U.S. and Egyptian citizen, but he renounced his Egyptian citizenship as a condition of his release.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
U.S. officials revealed in April 2015 that Warren Weinstein, a 73-year-old American aid worker that had been held hostage in Pakistan since August 2011, had been accidentally killed in a U.S. drone strike targeting al Qaeda.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
One of three Americans detained in North Korea, Jeffrey Edward Fowle was released and sent home, a State Department official told CNN in October 2014. Fowle was accused of leaving a Bible in a hotel where he was staying. North Korea announced Fowle's detention in June of that year, saying he had violated the law by acting "contrary to the purpose of tourism." Fowle told CNN: "I've admitted my guilt to the government and signed a statement to that effect and requested forgiveness from the people and the government of the DPRK."
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
In May 2013, a North Korean court sentenced Kenneth Bae, a U.S. citizen, to 15 years of hard labor for committing "hostile acts" against the state. North Korea claimed Bae was part of a Christian plot to overthrow the regime. In a short interview with CNN in September 2014, Bae said he is working eight hours a day, six days a week at a labor camp. "Right now what I can say to my friends and family is, continue to pray for me," he said. After months in detention, he and fellow American detainee Matthew Todd Miller were released in November.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Miller, an American sentenced to six years of hard labor in North Korea, was one of three Americans who spoke to CNN's Will Ripley in September 2014 and implored the U.S. government for help. The 24-year-old was accused of tearing up his tourist visa and seeking asylum upon entry to North Korea.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
American journalist Peter Theo Curtis was handed over to U.N. peacekeepers in August 2014 after nearly two years in captivity. He is believed to have been captured in October 2012 and held by the al-Nusra Front, a Syrian rebel group with ties to al Qaeda.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Alan Gross, at right with Rabbi Arthur Schneier, was jailed while working as a subcontractor in Cuba in December 2009. Cuban authorities say Gross tried to set up illegal Internet connections on the island. Gross says he was just trying to help connect the Jewish community to the Internet. Former President Jimmy Carter and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson both traveled to Cuba on Gross' behalf. He was eventually released in December.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
This undated image provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held by insurgents in Afghanistan since 2009. The White House announced Bergdahl's release on May 31, 2014. Bergdahl was released in exchange for five senior Taliban members held by the U.S. military. In March 2015, the U.S. military charged Bergdahl with one count each of "Desertion with Intent to Shirk Important or Hazardous Duty," and "Misbehavior Before The Enemy by Endangering the Safety of a Command, Unit or Place."
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
U.S. tourist and Korean War veteran Merrill Newman arrives at the Beijing airport on December 7, 2013, after being released by North Korea. Newman was detained in October 2013 by North Korean authorities just minutes before he was to depart the country after visiting through an organized tour. His son Jeff Newman said the Palo Alto, California, man had all the proper paperwork and set up his trip through a North Korean-approved travel agency.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Y – Mexican authorities arrested Yanira Maldonado, a U.S. citizen, right, in May 2013, for alleged drug possession. She and her husband, Gary, were traveling from Mexico back to the United States when their bus was stopped and searched. She was released a few days later and is now back in the United States.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
North Korea has arrested Americans before, only to release them after a visit by a prominent dignitary. Journalists Laura Ling, center, and Euna Lee, to her left, spent 140 days in captivity after being charged with illegal entry to conduct a smear campaign. They were freed in 2009 after a trip by former President Bill Clinton.
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Former President Jimmy Carter negotiated the release of Aijalon Gomes, who was detained in 2010 after crossing into North Korea illegally from China. Analysts say high-level visits give Pyongyang a propaganda boost and a way to save face when it releases a prisoner.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Detained in April 2011, Eddie Yong Su Jun was released by North Korea a month afterward. His alleged crime was not provided to the media. The American delegation that secured his freedom included Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Without any apparent U.S. intervention, Robert Park was released by North Korea in 2010. The Christian missionary crossed into North Korea from China, carrying a letter asking Kim Jong Il to free political prisoners and resign. North Korea's state-run news agency said Park was released after an "admission and sincere repentance of his wrongdoings." Here, Park holds a photo of Kim and a malnourished child during a protest in Seoul.
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Josh Fattal, center; Sarah Shourd, left; and Shane Bauer were detained by Iran while hiking near the Iraq-Iran border in July 2009. Iran charged them with illegal entry and espionage. Shourd was released on bail for medical reasons in September 2010; she never returned to face her charges. Bauer and Fattal were convicted in August 2011, but the next month they were released on bail and had their sentences commuted.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Haleh Esfandiari, an Iranian-American scholar, was detained at Iran's Evin Prison, spending months in solitary confinement before Iran released her on bail in August 2007. Esfandiari was visiting her ailing mother in Tehran when she was arrested and charged with harming Iran's national security.
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Photos: Americans detained abroad
Sixteen Americans were among the dozens arrested in December 2011 when Egypt raided the offices of 10 nongovernmental organizations that it said received illegal foreign financing and were operating without a public license. Many of the employees posted bail and left the country after a travel ban was lifted a few months later. Robert Becker, right, chose to stay and stand trial. He spent two years in prison and has since returned to the United States.
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Filmmaker Timothy Tracy was arrested in Venezuela in April 2013 on allegations of funding opponents of newly elected President Nicolas Maduro, successor to the late Hugo Chavez. Tracy went to Venezuela to make a documentary about the political division gripping the country. He was released in June 2013.
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N. Korea moves American to labor camp 02:03
"You have released prisoners before, and I'm asking you to release Kenneth Bae," Sugarman continued.
U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-New York, said the public pressure could work on North Korea.
"People like David should be all over the country," Rangel said. "Churches and synagogues should be pleading to this government that this has nothing to do with communism and the United States of America. It's a brother and a father and a son, and they should be responding to this effort."
Chung described her family's quest to free Bae as "all consuming."
"This is our whole life," Chung said. "We will not rest easy until his feet touch U.S. soil."
Bae, of Lynwood, Washington, was arrested in November 2012 in Rason, along North Korea's northeastern coast. The North Koreans say he was picked up for a crime against the state.
A devout Christian and father of three, Bae operated a China-based company specializing in tours of North Korea, according to his family and freekennow.com, a website that friends set up to promote his release.
The North Korean government accused Bae of planning to bring down the government through religious activities.
Last month, he told reporters that he had committed a "serious crime" in the secretive nation and that he had not experienced abusive treatment by the regime.
On Friday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki that Washington is "deeply concerned" about Bae's recent move to a North Korean labor camp.
Choson Sinbo -- a pro-North Korean publication with offices in Tokyo and Pyongyang that has claimed to have interviewed Bae in the past -- indicated in a report on its website Saturday that it had talked to him again.
According to the site, Bae said he'd been at a labor camp for about three weeks, during which time he works and also has some time to watch television and read books.
Choson Sinbo claims that Bae has been told to expect a visit from Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, as early as this coming Monday.
Psaki said late last month that the United States is "prepared to send Ambassador King" to North Korea to discuss Bae.
"There isn't a plan right now for Ambassador King to travel there," she said on January 29.
