Current TV - 2009 Imprisonment of Journalists By North Korea

2009 Imprisonment of Journalists By North Korea

The North Korean military detained two American journalists working for Current TV in March 2009 after they allegedly crossed into North Korea from China.

"Two reporters working for a U.S.-based Internet news media outlet, including a Korean American, were detained by North Korean authorities earlier this week, and they remain in custody there," said Yonhap news agency, quoting an unnamed diplomatic source. Reports say that the journalists were both warned several times by the North Korean military, about crossing the border.

The two female journalists are Korean American Euna Lee and Taiwanese American Laura Ling of Current TV based in California in the United States. Lee is the editor of the news for Current TV and Ling is one of the agency's reporters. They were said to have been shooting a video of the border region of China and N. Korea when they were arrested at the Tumen River. Laura Ling is the younger sister of CNN reporter Lisa Ling.

"We're aware of reports that early in the morning of March 17, China time, two American citizens were taken into custody across the Tumen river by what appear to be North Korean border guards. We are working with Chinese government officials in that particular area to ascertain the whereabouts and welfare of the Americans in question. We've also been in touch with North Korean officials to express our concern about the situation," said U.S. State Department spokesman, Fred Lash.

On March 30, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the state news agency of North Korea, reported that preparations were under way for indictments and a trial, saying, "The illegal entry of US reporters into the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements." The two faced trial on June 4.

According to Kim Tae-woo of the Korea Institute for Defense Analysis, “The journalists considerably weakened their government's leverage against the North,” in ongoing negotiations over the DPRK's nuclear program.

On June 8, Reuters reported that the two reporters were found guilty of illegal entry and committing "hostile acts against the DPRK" and subsequently sentenced to twelve years of hard labor.

Stanford Law professor Allen Weiner said that U.S. citizens are charged with crimes in foreign countries all the time, but: "The difference here is that we have grave doubts whether have done anything wrong, or whether they were arrested because they were Americans." He added that "now we are finding ourselves asking the North Koreans for something when we were trying to increase international pressure on them. That big stick we're holding just got a lot smaller."

On August 4, BBC News reported that they were pardoned amidst a visit by former U.S. president Bill Clinton. They were released and returned home the following day. Upon flying home, they were greeted at an airport in Burbank, California.