Filed under: North Korea | Tags: Bill Clinton, euna lee, Kim Jong Il, laura ling, North Korea
Today Laura Ling and Euna Lee were pardoned by Kim Jong Il. Bill Clinton was sent to negotiate the release of the two women.
Filed under: North Korea | Tags: BBC, Bill Clinton, euna lee, journalist, Kim Jong Il, laura ling, Madeleine Albright, missile, North Korea, nuclear, president, United States
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8182716.stm
Bill Clinton is reported to have met with Kim Jong Il recently in an unannounced trip to North Korea. He was involved in the freeze on nuclear activity during his Presidency, so maybe he still has influence now? Who knows. Maybe he is there for the two journalists? Either way, he is the highest profile American to visit since Madeleine Albright in 2000.
Filed under: North Korea | Tags: Concentration Camp, English, espionage, euna lee, government, human rights, hunger, Kim Jong Il, labor, laura ling, missile, North Korea, nuclear, police, prison, starvation, torture, treatment, trial, TV
Some speculators are claiming that Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the two American journalists captured by North Korean guards back in March, and who recently went on trial for espionage, will not actually go to a typical “hard labor camp”. Their sentence, handed out early this week, put a 12-year incarceration in front of their eyes. As scary and ominous as that may sound, I’ve been hearing a lot of talk of them actually not having to serve the full sentence, or the sentence as we imagine it. As these girls are journalists, North Korea might have several options. First, they might consider treating them well, knowing that upon any release in the future, they will tell their story to the world. That, of course, will only be the case if they are ever released. This Asia Times article claims that they might even be sent to a state guest house where their “hard labor” will consist of using their training and skills to help the North Korean government, TV stations, or English training.
So who really knows? Time will tell. And time will also tell how far America is willing to go in protecting these girls. I hate to imagine the day when a decision must be made as we’re staring at a scale with two American girls on one side, and a potential global nuclear threat on the other. At the moment it seems all the United States is trying to do is keep these two issues as separate as possible.
Filed under: North Korea | Tags: Concentration Camp, death, euna lee, Hitler, journalists, Kim Jong Il, labor camp, laura ling, North Korea, prison, torture, trial
Yesterday the North Korean government sentenced Laura Ling and Euna Lee to 12 years in a hard labor camp. If this sentence is carried out to its full extent…this means a really bad future for these two girls. Keep them in your prayers. These labor camps, as told in “Eyes of the Tailless Animals” are some of the worst places on earth. Torture, lack of food, lack of medicine, and many accounts of mistreatment and death are just some of the things that happen at these “camps”. They have been likened, and in some cases seen as worse, than Hitler’s concentration camps.
Read the LA Times article here
Keep these two girls in your prayers. Euna is a mother of a 4 year old, and both girls have families back home in America.
Filed under: North Korea | Tags: China, CNN, espionage, euna lee, laura ling, North Korea, trial
Today the two journalist who were arrested along the China-North Korea border were scheduled to go to trial. According to CNN sources, the trial barred any observers from the room. CNN Article
Our prayers go out today for Laura Ling and Euna Lee. It’s got to be a scary thing to be going on trial in North Korea. We haven’t heard any news on the latest. But we’ll definitely keep you up to date as we learn any information.
Filed under: North Korea | Tags: euna lee, laura ling, North Korea, prison, reporters, Sweden, trial, United States, USA, Washington Post
Seems that Laura Ling and Euna Lee will go on trial in North Korea in early June. Probably a really scary time for them…being on trial in North Korea. I can’t imagine the judicial system being extremely favorable with these two girls from the US. The girls have been held for two months. In fact, since March 30 there has been no contact with them. The United States does not actually have direct relations with North Korea; so Sweden is actually talking to North Korea on behalf of the United States.
Read more on the Washington Post website:
2 U.S. Reporters to Go on Trial in North Korea in Early June – washingtonpost.com.
