"Thus, North Korea keeps needling and harassing the U.S. diplomatic agenda by mistreating U.S. citizens," he said. "The bottom line is that the detention of U.S. citizens in North Korea is part of a corrupt effort to increase the regime's perceived standing, to garner international attention, and even to make a bit of money from excessive hospital fees. It serves to emphasize again the Mafiosi nature of this rogue regime."