Matthew Todd Miller (born August 26, 1989)[3] is a U.S. citizen who was detained in North Korea (DPRK) after traveling there, tearing up his tourist visa, and requesting political asylum.
[3][4] The Associated Press reported that Miller went to South Korea in 2010 to visit one of his brothers, an F-35 test pilot, who was stationed there at the time with the United States Air Force.
[7] Speaking from an undisclosed location in North Korea on August 1, 2014, Miller was permitted to give interviews to two American news organizations.
According to the court, Miller admitted to having the "wild ambition" of experiencing conditions in prison to secretly investigate and expose the country's dim human rights situation.
[5] On November 8, 2014, Miller was released after eight months in North Korea, and allowed to leave along with one additional American prisoner, Kenneth Bae, thanks to an intervention by James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence.