Kerry: No ‘quid pro quo’ in North Korea release

Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday denied that there had been any agreement with North Korea to release an American prisoner.

“There was no quid pro quo,” Kerry said, according to The Wall Street Journal.

{mosads}Jeffrey Fowle, who was arrested in May for leaving behind a Bible while in a tour group, was unexpectedly released on Tuesday.  

North Korea’s state-run news agency said that the release came after “repeated requests” from President Obama. “The criminal was handed over to the U.S. side according to a relevant legal procedure,” the agency said, Reuters reports. 

Kerry said that the U.S. was speaking to China and other countries about the release of the remaining two Americans held by North Korea. 

“We are very concerned about the remaining American citizens who are in North Korea and we have great hopes that North Korea will see the benefit of releasing them also as soon as possible,” Kerry said. 

Kerry added that he hopes to get back to talks with North Korea, which is under sanctions for its nuclear program.

“We hope that the dynamics can develop in the next weeks, months perhaps, where we could get back to talks and the United States is absolutely prepared to do that,” Kerry said.

A U.S. government aircraft carrying Fowle landed in Ohio, where he lives, on Wednesday morning, according to multiple reports.