Since the Korean War, which ended in 1953, no American has been imprisoned in North Korea as long as 45-year-old Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae.
Bae was arrested in November 2012 and later convicted for supposedly attempting to overthrow the state through a plot called Operation Jericho, described in videotaped sermons.
On Monday, at a rare press conference in Pyongyang, Bae called for American diplomats to help secure his release, a development signaling the regime could be open to talks with Washington.
Washington has offered to send U.S. Ambassador Robert King to Pyongyang, Voice of America has reported, citing an anonymous White House official.
"Obama has been persistent with his hands-off policy towards North Korea," said Leonid Petrov, a researcher at Australian National University. "Kim is using Bae as a decoy for the dialogue. Now all eyes are on Obama. The ball is in his court."
Sending an envoy to plea for the release of an American is a familiar scenario for the U.S. government. In recent years, a handful of U.S. citizens have been detained or imprisoned in the garrison state, some under circumstances similar to Bae's: Korean-American missionaries accused of proselytizing and, as authorities say, undercutting North Korean sovereignty.
Here are five other Americans who've landed behind bars — and managed to win freedom.
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