The story of the detained/kidnapped? American journalists in North Korea just continues to get stranger as it is now being reported that their guide may have led them into North Korea:

Two American journalists being held by North Korea may have been led across the border from China by a guide promising them exclusive footage of human trafficking or drug deals, an activist who helped organize their trip said Wednesday.

The Rev. Chun Ki-won says he repeatedly warned Laura Ling and Euna Lee by phone not to stray into North Korean territory in the days before their March 17 detention.

Chun, who said he helped arrange their trip to China to report on North Korean refugees living in border towns, said the reporters kept in close contact, calling him twice daily. They followed his advice to the word, and never mentioned wanting to sneak into North Korea, he said.

“They didn’t tell me about it in advance,” he told The Associated Press, showing a reporter e-mail exchanges with Lee. “They were not supposed to go there.”

The guide and a third American, cameraman Mitch Koss, reportedly escaped arrest last week but were detained by Chinese border guards. Koss has left the country, China’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. His whereabouts Wednesday were unclear.  [Associated Press]

I have a hard time believing that these two would actually go into North Korea knowing the consequences of being caught and the fact they told Reverend Chun they would not.  Could the guide have intentionally been involved in their capture in some way?  The key to this is the cameraman who got away from the North Koreans.  I would love to hear what he has to say about what happened.

If the cameraman confirms that these reporters willingly went into North Korea to score some scoop story then they deserve to be charged with a crime for illegally entering the country.