Buy Photo Jeffrey Fowle of Miamisburg was detained in North Korea after he left a Bible in a bar bathroom. He walks with his son Chris, 11, wife Tatyana and daughter Stephanie, 9. (Photo: The Enquirer/Carrie Cochran )Buy Photo 
 
 Jeffrey Fowle, the Miamisburg man who became the center of an international incident when he left a Bible in North Korea, and who later served nearly six months in detention for doing so, knew exactly what he was doing. He knew the risk and he knew the possible consequences. And he thinks it was all worth it. 
 
 He also now has a chore list about a mile long. 
 
 Fowle, a municipal worker, husband and father of three children, spoke publicly Friday for the first time since being released. He said that his visit to North Korea in April of this year was motivated in part by a desire to visit the country, which few Westerners have seen in decades. But clearly this was a trip about faith. And proselytizing. 
 
 Religious activity is almost completely non-existent in North Korea according to the Central Intelligence Agency. The U.S. Department of State in September spoke of the: "ongoing, widespread, and systematic human rights violations in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea." DPRK are the initials commonly used for the country of North Korea. 
 
 In the weeks before Fowle left Miamsiburg for North Korea, another American was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for spreading the word of God. So Fowle knew the risks. 
 
 "I did, I knew I was going against the laws of the DPRK," Fowle said. "Having seen the plight of the people, I knew about the severe Christian persecution. I wanted to help them." 
 
 So Fowle left a Korean/English Bible in a public bathroom in a restaurant/bar in Pyongyang. Clearly his tour group was being watched because the next day the tour guide asked if anybody had left anything behind. Fowle would not deny his actions even though he knew it meant trouble. he raised his hand and said he left a Bible. 
 
 For two days nothing happened. Then, at the airport at Pyongyang, when he was preparing to leave the country, Fowle was detained. 
 
 He was held in his hotel room for nearly a month, and then a detention center for the next five months. Did he think God would protect him. "Yes, and I believe I was protected, I was never harmed physically," Fowle said. "I was never in jeopardy of giving up faith." 
 
 But that is not to say his time was easy. The beginning, especially, was arduous. Fowle did not know what his wife knew about his disappearance. He kept thinking of Tatyana waiting for him at an airport. He wondered about the fears of his children, Alex, 13, Chris 11, and Stephanie 9. 
 
 He worried he would be sentenced to 15 years of labor. The United States and North Korea do not have diplomatic relations. So he had no information and no visits. The Swedish Embassy does try to look out for American citizens in North Korea who are in trouble. 
 
 Only when a Swedish diplomat was able to visit Fowle did he learn that his wife and kids did know where he was. He also got two chocolate bars and learned that the family church, Bethel Baptist Church in West Carrollton, was taking care of his family. Fowle said he broke down for the first time when he learned they were OK. 
 
 The Swedes were instrumental in securing the release of Fowle, although he says he still does not understand why he was let go and two other Americans remain held by the North Koreans. 
 
 The government of North Korea said that it's leader, Kim Jong-un ordered the release of Fowle according to the Associated Press. 
 
 Fowle says he prays daily for the release of Bae and for Matthew Miller who was just sentenced to six years. Bae is a Christian missionary. Miller's exact actions, or "crime," are less well known. 
 
 Fowle never had any contact with either man while he was in North Korea or after he was detained. 
 
 He knows the price he paid for his faith was high. He knows his family paid a price as well. But he believes all people deserve to have access to the Christian faith. "Maybe one Bible can do a lot of good." 
 
 Now Fowle is trying to return to normal. The city of Moraine agreed to rehire him this past week. He has spent 26 years with the city's streets department. 
 
 Buy Photo Jeffrey Fowle of Miamisburg was detained in North Korea after he left a Bible in a bar bathroom. After being held in detention for six months, he was released ten days ago. He walks with his family, from left: wife Tatyana, daughter Stephanie, 9, and sons Chris, 11, and Alex, 13. (Photo: The Enquirer/Carrie Cochran ) 
 
 And he is more happy than ever to spend time at his church and to spend time with his wife and children. "Our family has come together even more closely," Fowle said. "I am just appreciating my wife and kids." 
 
 Tatyana is glad to have her husband home as well. The worry, she said was difficult for her, but she was able to focus on raising their children. And, she was able to make a nice chore list for him. "I always have a list of chores for him to do," Tatyana said. "He told me that when he was in North Korea, he was wondering what was going to be on my list. He said he even started making his own. That's when I knew it was bad." 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://cin.ci/1tJrBp3 ||||| LEBANON, Ohio (AP) — An American who is back home after being detained for nearly six months in North Korea said Friday that he left a Bible in a nightclub hoping it would get into the hands of what he called the country's underground Christian church. 
 
 Jeffrey Fowle talks about being detained in North Korea for nearly six weeks, Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 in Lebanon, Ohio. Fowle, sitting in his attorney's office during the interview, was held for nearly... (Associated Press) 
 
 Jeffrey Fowle talks about being detained in North Korea for nearly six weeks, Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 in Lebanon, Ohio. Fowle, sitting in his attorney's office during the interview, was held for nearly... (Associated Press) 
 
 Jeffrey Fowle talks about being detained in North Korea for nearly six weeks, Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 in Lebanon, Ohio. Fowle, sitting in his attorney's office during the interview, was held for nearly... (Associated Press) 
 
 Jeffrey Fowle talks about being detained in North Korea for nearly six weeks, Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 in Lebanon, Ohio. Fowle, sitting in his attorney's office during the interview, was held for nearly... (Associated Press) 
 
 Jeffrey Fowle talks about being detained in North Korea for nearly six weeks, Friday, Oct. 31, 2014 in Lebanon, Ohio. Fowle, sitting in his attorney's office during the interview, was held for nearly... (Associated Press) 
 
 Jeffrey Fowle said he traveled to the country as a tourist but saw the opportunity as a way to follow the Christian mission "to carry the Gospel to all corners of the oath." 
 
 "I knew it was a risk, that I was taking a gamble, but I felt compelled to do that to aid the underground church in some small way," Fowle said in an interview in his lawyer's office. 
 
 "I felt once I left the Bible somewhere that God would take it the rest of the way into the hands of some kind of Christian organization, and I'd be able to waltz out of country fat, dumb and happy, no problem," he said. "But God had other plans." 
 
 Fowle, 56, arrived in North Korea on April 29. The married father of three returned home last week after negotiations involving retired diplomat and former Ohio Congressman Tony Hall. Fowle, who conducted several interviews Friday about his detention, was relaxed and comfortable during a 45-minute interview. 
 
 He said he went to North Korea to experience the country and that spreading the Gospel was a secondary motivation. He'd previously traveled to Bosnia and Mongolia, he said, saying he liked "out-of-the-way places." He was aware of warnings about travel to North Korea but went anyway, knowing that American tourists had gone and returned over the past decade. 
 
 Fowle, an equipment operator in the city of Moraine street department, said he paid about $3,900 for the tour, plus about $700 for a flight to Beijing. He said criticisms that going on such a tour would help the North Korean government continue its oppressive ways was a "legitimate question," but he doubted his money went far. 
 
 "My fees wouldn't have bought a tank, that's for sure," he said. 
 
 Fowle said he left the Bible — with his name in it — in a bathroom under a trash bin at a nightclub in the northern port city of Chongjin and hoped a Christian would find it. He chose that city and the nightclub in the belief there would be less security. He bought the English-Korean Bible before his trip. 
 
 Instead, his tour guide asked the next day if anyone had left a Bible there and he owned up to it. He was detained a few days later while going through customs before departure. 
 
 Fowle was taken to a hotel for about three weeks and questioned, then moved to another facility. He wrote a confession and answered questions about his motivations. He said authorities couldn't believe he had acted on his own, but he made clear it was his own decision. He was treated well and was comfortable but was in his locked quarters 23½ hours a day, he said. 
 
 He was allowed to speak in September to Western news organizations, including The Associated Press, in five-minute interviews. He said he was given "talking points" for those interviews, meant to convey his "desperate situation." 
 
 The intention, in his mind, was "to have the U.S. government or some other entity step in to help resolve that situation." 
 
 He said he never considered going off script, although he did reject requests that he try to be more emotional and more demanding of the U.S. government. Fowle said he felt that would make his situation worse at home. 
 
 Fowle said his release came as a surprise — he thought he was about to be taken to prison — and he was told by an American who helped him escort him home that the North Korean government was responsible for his return. 
 
 Fowle said he knew there was a risk but believed it was worth taking to get the Bible into the hands of North Korean Christians. In hindsight, he said, he wouldn't do it again. 
 
 His family suffered in his absence, especially after the city of Moraine was forced to terminate him when his leave was exhausted. His wife, Tatyana, works only part time. 
 
 But some good has come of the incident, he said, including a deeper appreciation for his family. He apologized to his wife in a letter from North Korea and has pledged to be a better, more attentive husband and father. 
 
 "You don't know what you've got until it's taken away from you forcibly," he said. "You don't appreciate what you've got." 
 
 Fowle said he will be glad to return to his job with the city of Moraine, a Dayton suburb. The city agreed to give him his street department job back but said risky travel in the future would result in his firing. Fowle said he agrees with the requirement and has no plans for missionary work in "closed countries" in the future. 
 
 U.S. officials are trying to win the release of two other Americans who are being held in North Korea, Matthew Miller and Kenneth Bae. Fowle said he had had no contact with Miller or Bae.
– When North Korea imprisoned American tourist Jeffrey Fowle, it accused him of planting a Bible in a bid to spread Christianity. A family spokesperson denied at the time that he was on a religious mission, but now that he's free, Fowle admits that Pyongyang was right. "I did, I knew I was going against the laws of the DPRK," the Ohio resident tells the Cincinnati Enquirer. "Having seen the plight of the people, I knew about the severe Christian persecution. I wanted to help them." The 56-year-old says he left the Bible in a public bathroom under a trash bin. The next day, a tour guide asked the group if anyone had left anything behind, and Fowle, whose name was on the Bible, raised his hand. He got detained two days later at the airport in Pyongyang and remained in custody for nearly six months. "I knew it was a risk, that I was taking a gamble, but I felt compelled to do that to aid the underground church in some small way," Fowle tells the AP in a separate interview. The married father of three is back to work Monday with the streets department in the city of Moraine. The city paid him during his absence, but his bosses have made clear that he'll lose his job if does something like this again. Two Americans remain detained in North Korea: Matthew Miller and Kenneth Bae.