U.S. Protests North Korea’s Punishment of 2 Journalists

[The_OG_Nelta]

Can't believe this isn't on here yet X_X

WASHINGTON — The United States government and Western rights groups protested Monday after North Korea’s highest court sentenced two American journalists to 12 years of hard labor, a move that introduced another complicating factor into Washington’s stand-off with North Korea over its nuclear and missile tests and its broader nuclear ambitions.

The two journalists — Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36 — were detained by North Korean soldiers at the Chinese border on March 17 and charged with illegally entering North Korean territory and “hostile acts,” but not with the more serious charge of espionage as some had feared. The North’s official news agency, KCNA, announced the conviction and sentence in a report monitored in Seoul.

Lisa Ling, Laura Ling’s sister, told ABC television that the two journalists were working on a story about the trafficking of North Korean women into China when they were detained, but other reports said they were reporting on North Korean refugees who had fled their country. The exact circumstances of their arrest remain unclear.

President Obama was “deeply concerned” by reports of the sentencing, the White House said in a statement Monday. The United States is “engaged through all possible channels to secure their release,” the statement said.

The human rights group Amnesty International sharply criticized the legal procedures behind the sentencing and called for the journalists’ immediate release. “No access to lawyers, no due process, no transparency: the North Korean judicial and penal systems are more instruments of suppression than of justice,” said Roseann Rife, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific deputy director.

In New York, the Committee to Protect Journalists described the sentence as “deplorable” and called on all participants in the six-party talks on North Korea — both Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States — to work together for the women’s release.

Ms. Ling’s father, Doug Ling, spoke briefly to The Associated Press at his home outside Sacramento, California on Monday, saying the family was “going to keep a low-profile until we hear something better about the situation.”

The sentencing comes at a time of heightened tensions between the North and the United States. On April 5, the North launched a rocket on April 5 in what was widely believed to be a test of its long-range Taepodong-2 missile, and in late May, it conducted its second nuclear test in less than three years.

The United Nations Security Council is weighing tougher sanctions against the regime and the possible interdiction of North Korean ships suspected of carrying unconventional weapons. The United States is also considering relisting North Korea as a sponsor of terrorism.

Some analysts said dispatching a special envoy to free the journalists could provide Washington and Pyongyang an opportunity to reopen dialogue. But one person like to be considered for such a role, Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico who as a congressman helped negotiate the release of American citizens held in North Korea in the 1990s, said such a move would be premature.

Speaking on NBC’s “Today” show, the governor said that the Obama administration had solicited his advice. But, he added: “Talk of an envoy is premature because what first has to happen is a framework for negotiations on a potential humanitarian release. What we would try to seek would be some kind of a political pardon.”

Another name mentioned as a possible special envoy is Al Gore, the former vice president. He is a co-founder of Current TV, the San Francisco-based media company for which Ms. Ling and Ms. Lee were working when detained near the border with China.

In an interview on CNN in mid-May, Mr. Gore said he had been “deeply involved” in the efforts to free the journalists “every single day.” But he has kept relatively silent about the matter, and Current TV has not released an official statement about it.

Likening negotiations with the North Koreans to “a high-stakes poker game,” Mr. Richardson said substantive talks on the journalists’ release might be possible now that the trial was over.

“In previous instances where I was involved in negotiating,” Mr. Richardson said, “you could not get this started until the legal process had ended.” The United States could try to seek a kind of “political pardon, some sort of respite from political proceedings,” he added.

In 1996, Mr. Richardson, then a member of Congress, traveled to Pyongyang to negotiate the release of Evan Hunziker, who was held for three months on charges of spying. Mr. Hunziker, apparently drunk, swam across the river border between China and North Korea and was detained. Mr. Richardson was also instrumental in negotiations to obtain the release of an American pilot shot down over the North in 1994.

On the “Today” show, Mr. Richardson noted that North Korea had not so far publicly linked the plight of the two women to the standoff over Pyongyang’s recent nuclear and missile tests. He also saw some hope in the fact that North Korea had not filed espionage charges against them and had allowed them to meet with a Swedish diplomat and make phone calls home.

Lee Woo-young, a North Korea specialist at the University of North Korea Studies in Seoul called the verdict “somewhat harsher than I had expected.” Ultimately, however, he said, “the verdict doesn’t mean much because this has to be resolved politically in the end.”

The North’s labor camps are notoriously brutal. International human rights groups and North Korean defectors say detainees are subjected to frequent beatings, hunger and inhumane workloads. Hygienic conditions and medical care are poor, taking a toll on prisoners’ health, a report by Amnesty International about the penal system said.

Lisa Ling said that her sister, who suffers from an ulcer, had called her in the days before the trial began last Thursday. Lisa Ling said that although Laura sounded terrified, she told her that she was eating three meals a day and that she was being treated fairly.

“At 11 at night my phone rang, and not having heard her voice for almost three months now, I picked up the phone and she said, ‘Hi, Li. It’s me.’ And I mean I was just astounded,” said Lisa Ling, who is also a journalist, in an interview with ABC’s Nightline.

“And that phone call lasted about four minutes, during which she essentially said look, the only thing that could help us is if our two countries communicate,” Lisa Ling said.


Here's the link..
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/wo...orth.html?_r=1

Discuss?

[archibaldcrane]

They had one of these journalists' sisters on CNN a couple weeks ago.

She was a smoking hot asian chick.

Just thought I'd share.

[Kuya]

North Korea is really progressive. Unlike the US, NK actually has journalists go through courts instead of detaining them indefinitely without a trial, even a sham trial.

[Blabj]

They're really pushing all the right buttons here.

Next there'll be news reports of masses of oil found underneath the rice paddies and that'll be it, WW3.

[Plow]

Hope they're both ok, most importantly.


He just fucked up big (or is about to, at least). If you ignore AI in situations involving foreigners, you're screwed, seriously.

[Dimmauk]

North Korea is gunna get raped soon. I think everyone around the world is tired of their shit.

[archibaldcrane]

He just fucked up big (or is about to, at least). If you ignore AI in situations involving foreigners, you're screwed, seriously.

Naw, not really. They're two asian girls, to your average tv viewer they'll just think "asians in north korea? yeah that seems about right."

If these girls looked like Natalee Holloway, then he'd have a problem.

[Shiro]

Haiti's Hotzone // Current

I've watched Laura Ling's reports for a few years now. Not that it justifies anything for NK, but she has a tendency to go places she probably shouldn't be. It is the nature of her work though, and I think they were probably aware of the risks they were taking getting so close to the boarder. I'm curious to see what her reactions to the situation are once she gets out of there, whenever that may be...

[guartz]

U.N troops look like ye average guards common to most rpgs. Why is that?

[Mizango]

Naw, not really. They're two asian girls, to your average tv viewer they'll just think "asians in north korea? yeah that seems about right."

If these girls looked like Natalee Holloway, then he'd have a problem.

It's sad but true.

Yes if anyone here watches National Geographic explorer Lisa Ling is the host of the show and is the sister of one of the women imprisoned in N.Korea. She has a very distinct voice and you'd probably know it if you heard it.

I just wanted to point that out before the obligatory "they all look the same" comments.

[Atreides]

Lisa Ling actually went to North Korea a few years ago, undercover, as part of a Nepalese eye surgery team sent to perform several hundred vision-saving operations in just a few days. She never told the NK gov't what she was really there for, and although she (as most journalists do) recorded what the government wanted her to see, she didn't exactly paint the regime in the most flattering light. Part of me wondered if this would play into her sister's treatment, if Pyongyang would be somewhat more punitive in their punishment because of her sister's report.

The video is pretty fascinating, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be on youtube any longer. I'd really recommend tracking it down, it's called "Inside North Korea." I'll post a link later if I can find one.

I've watched just about every NK documentary on youtube, the most interesting is probably the one that won an oscar in 2001, "Welcome to North Korea":
YouTube - Welcome to North Korea by Peter Tetteroo and Raymond Feddema / Documentary Educational Video

I thought this one was fascinating too, called "Friends of Kim." There's actually this Spanish guy who is very pro-NK, runs a website, and organizes trips there to support them. He's pretty much nuts:
YouTube - Friends of Kim - Documentary 1/8

VICE's trip to NK for the mass games is actually kinda hilarious because they approach the trip as you'd expect the slacker set to, drinking with government minders etc. I think you have to go to their website to watch past part 1 (it's free).
YouTube - VICE Guide to North Korea

This last documentary about starvation, "Children of the Secret State" is pretty sad, about what you'd expect if you've been keeping up with current events. I don't remember that much about it:
YouTube - North Korea-Children of the Secret State (1/5)

There are some other bits and pieces of documentaries on there, journeyman pictures airs abridged versions of their NK documentaries which are pretty good. Some other stuff too but the above links pretty much cover all we're allowed to see.

Anyway I realize this is kinda off topic but for whatever reason I find NK-related documentaries unbelievably interesting. Anyone else seen any of these?

---

edit: nvm, it seems like the original part 1 of "inside north korea" was deleted and someone else posted it under a different name. I'd recommend watching before it's taken down, if it was deleted purposely:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YatWwmYUrBs&feature=fvw

[Mizango]

Yeah that eye surgery documentary in N.Korea was insane. I love Nat. Geo programming obviously.

No credit to the doctors, no nothing. All praise went to fearless leader and blessed they were to see his face again. Funny how government officials were escorting everyone around and listening to every single word the residents had to say. Oppressive much?

[Atreides]

Yeah that eye surgery documentary in N.Korea was insane. I love Nat. Geo programming obviously.

No credit to the doctors, no nothing. All praise went to fearless leader and blessed they were to see his face again. Funny how government officials were escorting everyone around and listening to every single word the residents had to say. Oppressive much?

Yea, and that pretty much sums up the problems with "dealing with" North Korea. When you watch these movies and hear people talking about Kim Il-Sung/Kim Jung-Il, you can see in their eyes that they believe every word coming out of their mouths. I mean, Kim Il-Sung died in 1994 and people STILL think he's watching over them, or "asleep" as one documentary puts it. It's pretty evident that they've set up a situation in which people either wholeheartedly believe in the regime, are too afraid to ever so much as think about going against it, or at the very least raised to hate the U.S./capitalist life to the point that life in NK looks like a paradise to them.

[Vajra]

NEW: "Clinton expressed sincere words of apology," statement says.
NEW: North Korea says Laura Ling, Euna Lee have been released.

N. Korean leader reportedly pardons U.S. journalists

(CNN) -- North Korean President Kim Jong-Il has pardoned and ordered the release of two U.S. journalists, state-run news agency KCNA said Wednesday.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/...skcnaafpgi.jpg
In a North Korean official photo, President Clinton
receives flowers on his arrival Tuesday in Pyongyang.

The announcement came after former U.S. President Bill Clinton met with top North Korean officials in Pyongyang to appeal for the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who had been arrested while reporting from the border between North Korea and China.

"Clinton expressed words of sincere apology to Kim Jong-Il for the hostile acts committed by the two American journalists against the DPRK after illegally intruding into it," the news agency reported. "Clinton courteously conveyed to Kim Jong-Il an earnest request of the U.S. government to leniently pardon them and send them back home from a humanitarian point of view.

"The meetings had candid and in-depth discussions on the pending issues between the DPRK and the U.S. in a sincere atmosphere and reached a consensus of views on seeking a negotiated settlement of them."

The report said Clinton then conveyed a message from President Obama "expressing profound thanks for this and reflecting views on ways of improving the relations between the two countries."

It added, "The measure taken to release the American journalists is a manifestation of the DPRK's humanitarian and peace-loving policy.

"The DPRK visit of Clinton and his party will contribute to deepening the understanding between the DPRK and the U.S. and building the bilateral confidence."

DPRK is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the nation's official name.

The two American journalists had been held in the reclusive communist nation since their arrest in March.

Earlier in the day, White House Secretary Robert Gibbs said Clinton was on a "solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans."

Ling and Lee are reporters for California-based Current TV -- a media venture launched by Clinton's former vice president, Al Gore.

The two were sentenced in June to 12 years in prison on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign. Since the United States has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, efforts to resolve the issue had been handled through Sweden, which represents U.S. interests in North Korea.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/...linton07nk.jpg
President Clinton met Tuesday with North Korea
leader Kim Jong-Il.

The visit by the former president, whose wife, Hillary Clinton, is now the Obama administration's secretary of state, came about three weeks after the United States dropped a request that Ling and Lee be released on humanitarian grounds. Instead, the United States was seeking amnesty for the women, Hillary Clinton said. Video

A plea for amnesty implies forgiveness for some offense, which could have given North Korea the chance to release the women without feeling that its legal system had been slighted, according to analyst Mike Chinoy, an Edgerton senior fellow on Asia at the Pacific Council on International Policy in Los Angeles.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a5/...ANKBILL_P1.jpg
Billy and Kimmy Jong-Izzle Foh Shizzle Sittin' down like a Boss.

Prior to the release, Chinoy said, "I suspect that it was made pretty clear in advance that Bill Clinton would be able to return with these two women, otherwise it would be a terrible loss of face for him."

Clinton's mission came as the United States and its allies in the region are seeking to push North Korea back into stalled nuclear disarmament talks. North Korea conducted a nuclear bomb test, its second, in May, and has conducted several missile tests since then. The United Nations responded to those tests by tightening and expanding sanctions on the nation.

North Korea and the United States were on opposite sides in the 1950-1953 Korean War and had no regular contacts before a 1994 crisis over North Korea's nuclear program. North Korea agreed at that time to halt the development of nuclear weapons, but abandoned that accord and withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003.
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Clinton had considered visiting North Korea in 2000, near the end of his second term as president. His secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, went to Pyongyang in early 2000 to meet with Kim.

The 67-year-old North Korean leader was widely reported to have suffered a stroke a year ago and is believed to be grooming his youngest son, Kim Jon Un, as his successor.

Source: N. Korean leader reportedly pardons U.S. journalists - CNN.com

[Plow]

It's too bad the democrats don't have any intelligent men to look up to, particularly ones that are brilliant in the fields of foreign relations and social interactions.

[Dimmauk]

NEW: "Clinton expressed sincere words of apology," statement says.
NEW: North Korea says Laura Ling, Euna Lee have been released.



Source: N. Korean leader reportedly pardons U.S. journalists - CNN.com

Nice work Bill!

[AoE]

Yeah I heard about Bill's trip this morning on ABC but had to head to work before the story was covered. Good to see that those two journalist are being released. Heard about the conditions of their labor camps and was honestly worried for their mental and physical health, especially Laura with her stomach ulcer.

[Xavier]

Damn, Slick Willy comes through with another win.

Way to go Mr. President.

[Plow]

Bill Clinton has threesome with two Asian chicks.

Film at 11.

Clearly he was able to convince KJI it was the right thing to do over a few wonderful cigars.

[Atreides]

I wouldn't be surprised if KJI had regular cigar shipments from Castro himself.

My guess is he got an iPod and an Xbox 360.