By ABC News has confirmed that the two American journalists Laura Ling & Euna Lee have been “detained” by North Korean border guards:
These undated photos show two American journalists Laura Ling, right, and Euna Lee. Ling and Lee... Expand These undated photos show two American journalists Laura Ling, right, and Euna Lee. Ling and Lee were detained by North Korean soldiers while on a reporting trip earlier in the week near the country's border with China, South Korean news reports said today. Collapse (Yonhap/AP Photo)
Two American television journalists have been detained by the North Korean army at the Tumen River area near Yanji, China.
Acting spokesman Robert Wood told ABC News “the facts are not quite clear” what happened.
“We’re trying to ascertain all of the facts. We do know that these two Americans were taken into custody,” Wood said.
“There’s a lot of contradictory information” Wood added, apparently backtracking on a statement provided earlier this morning as to the circumstances leading to the journalists’ detainment.
He declined to provide any further details, saying that first “we want to make sure that we have a better understanding of what actually happened.”
The US, he said, does not have any independent confirmation of what happened leading to the detainment.
Earlier the State Department had told ABC News that the pair were in China when they were detained and brought into North Korea.
“We are aware through reliable channels on the morning of March 17, that two American citizens were taken into custody across the Tumen River from China into North Korea by what appeared to be North Korean border guards,” said State Department spokeswoman Julie Reside. [ABC News]
If they were detained and taken across the Tumen River to North Korea then shouldn’t that be considered kidnapping and the US government outraged by such an action? You would think the US government would try to take the angle that Chinese sovereignty was violated by this kidnapping and try to push the Chinese to do something about this since they have more leverage on North Korea then anyone else.
In this file photo, a Chinese farmer fishes in the Tumen river, at Qingrong village in northeast... Expand In this file photo, a Chinese farmer fishes in the Tumen river, at Qingrong village in northeast China's Jilin province, across from farmland in North Korea on the opposite side July 4, 1996. Two American journalists are detained by the North Korean army at the Tumen River area near Yanji, China bordering North Korea. The State Department confirmed to ABC News that they were in China when they were detained and brought into North Korea. Collapse (Greg Baker/AP Photo)
Some ROK Drop readers may remember the story of Reverend Kim Dong-shik, who was a US permanent resident married to a US citizen that was kidnapped by North Korean agents inside China and brought back to North Korea where he was suspected to have been tortured and killed.
The then Senator Barack Obama sold out Reverend Kim’s family who were his constituents in Chicago for political expediency. However, this time these two are bigger names being kidnapped especially Laura Ling who is the sister of Lisa Ling of National Geographic fame who snuck inside of North Korea before and filmed it.
I think this is becoming pretty clear that the North Koreans knew who these journalists were and ordered their kidnapping in order to further raise tensions and use these two as bargaining chips. Expect the North Koreans to demand an apology from the US and then hold on to them both until after they test their missile. Notice how they were kidnapped on the same day the US successfully tested the new THAAD missile defense system.
The North Koreans are probably betting they can use these kidnapped journalists as bargaining chips to limit the actions of the US government in response to a missile test. Think about it would the US government still shoot down a North Korean missile knowing the North Koreans are holding two US citizens hostage?
5:30 am on March 20th, 2009 1
Probably not……….but that doesn't mean the Japanese won't step in and take care of it for us.
6:14 am on March 20th, 2009 2
If they do shoot it down and the 2 citizens are killed blame Obama. If they don't and a good real time THAAD testing is missed then blame Obama. Either way this blog will blame Obama
, Ok I had to do it, sorry.
7:01 am on March 20th, 2009 3
Reuters is saying that the two were in fact on the frozen Tumen river itself while reporting. http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5…
9:45 am on March 20th, 2009 4
Doesn't this constitute an act of war? If it doesn't, it should.
1:11 am on March 21st, 2009 5
906. ART. 106. SPIES
Any person who in time of war is found lurking as a spy or acting as a spy in or about any place, vessel, or aircraft, within the control or jurisdiction of any of the armed forces, or in or about any shipyard, any manufacturing or industrial plant, or any other place or institution engaged in work in aid of the prosecution of the war by the Unites States, or elsewhere, shall be tried by a general court-martial or by a military commission and on conviction shall be punished by death.
1:18 am on March 21st, 2009 6
I’m confident the Dear Leader is pleased with the arrival of his two reluctant guests. They should have had enough sense not to get that close to the border. They will be fortunate if they get out of that place with little to no psychological scarring.
1:25 am on March 21st, 2009 7
I have to ask
Why is everyone so gung-ho about shooting down the KN missile? Is it going to be a first strike against the U.S. or something?
I would imagine KN knew what these two were doing and did what they had to, to protect themselves from reporting that would be negative. I doubt they were there to report on the fishing and KN did something the U.S. will not do, protect its border.
5:20 am on March 21st, 2009 8
Frankly I would be surprised if anyone shoots down their missile to include the Japanese. The only way I see the US shooting this missile down is if it looks like it going to land near Hawaii. A lot of the tough talk is just an attempt to disuade NK from firing their missile.
5:22 am on March 21st, 2009 9
It says they were on the Chinese side of the Tumen which is still Chinese territory. I also have a hard time believing these reporters would just stand on the ice and allow North Korean soldiers to come across and detain them. If soldiers were approaching near them you would think they would run away further on to the Chinese side and not just stand there and be detained.
I wouldn't be surprised if they were set up in some way.
5:24 am on March 21st, 2009 10
One Free Korea has more here on the detention:
http://freekorea.us/2009/03/19/north-korea-detain…
My opinion is that these reporters will eventually be released after a high level Obama administration official visits and "apologizes" for their trespassing and uses the visit as a way to open dialogue with the Obama administration to get a new pay out deal.
7:46 am on March 21st, 2009 11
It's not easy to run on ice. It's also possible that the soldiers aimed their weapons and threatened to shoot. Both the Yalu and Tumen are narrow in places. I viewed the North Korean city of Namyang? from a riverside park in the Chinese city of Tumen, from which I could have walked across in less than two minutes.
8:53 pm on March 21st, 2009 12
That looks like a pristine place to fish, but I don't think I would risk imprisonment just to fish it.
11:28 pm on March 21st, 2009 13
Hopefully someday some country will play hardball with N. Korea. Kim Jong Il has a handbook on how to manipulate the U.S. to a perfect "T". Why the U.S. won't grow some balls in dealing with these chowder heads is beyond me.
I am happy that the new S. Korea government plays a tougher role when they deal with the North, a thousand times better than the previous communist sympathizer regime.
12:52 pm on March 30th, 2009 14
Why hasn't there been more widespread coverage of this event. These are two American's that are being held captive without any official comments from our President or Secretary of State. Not to mention, I can't find anything from Al Gore and his position on the matter. I get it if their working through back channels, but at least let the public know that their engaged.
3:48 pm on March 30th, 2009 15
And Al Gore would have a position and we would care why?
7:59 am on June 8th, 2009 16
psychological scarring….i was talking to my parnets neighbours who are old Korean folks..they said..if these girls are kept for 12years…they will be tortured, raped and passed around the system for more cruelty..than one can imagine..they said..dont be suprised if these girls have a mental breakdown n sucide.
6:06 pm on August 4th, 2009 17
[...] More Here. [...]
11:48 pm on August 30th, 2009 18
[...] Mit Südkorea kühlten sich die Beziehungen seit dem Amtsantritt Lee Myung-baks im Februar 2008 ab. Dies ist unter Anderem mit der veränderten Haltung Lees, der die Annäherungspolitik die seine beiden Vorgänger gegenüber Nordkorea betrieben hatten, beendete, zu erklären. Das Ende des Tourismusprojektes im Kumgangsan nach der bisher nicht vollständige geklärten Erschießung einer südkoreanischen Touristin durch einen nordkoreanischen Soldaten und die strengere Haltung bezüglich des Kaesong Industrieparks, einem Kooperationsprojekt in dessen Rahmen südkoreanische Investoren auf nordkoreanischem Boden nordkoreanische Arbeiter beschäftigen, sind deutliche Belege dieser erkalteten Beziehungen. Daneben sorgten die Raketentests im April diesen Jahres und der Nukleartest am 25. Mai 2009 zu verschärften Beziehungen Nordkoreas mit annähernd allen Staaten der Welt, insbesondere aber den USA. Schon durch die Verhaftung der beiden Reporterinnen Euna Lee und Laura Ling nach einem angeblich nicht genehmigten Grenzübertritt am 17. März diesen Jahres, waren die Beziehungen zu den USA stark in Mitleidenschaft gezogen worden. Schon kurz nach der Verhaftung der beiden asiatischstämmigen Frauen wurde über Zusammenhänge zwischen der angespannten Situation zwischen den USA und Nordkorea rund um den angekündigten Test einer Interkontinentalrakete und der Festnahme sowie dem angekündigten Verfahren gegen die beiden Frauen spekuliert. [...]