By I have been speculating that the two journalists being held hostage in North Korea where probably being held in villa when reports came out that they were sent to a special labor camp in Pyongsong because the regime knows they will be released one day and wouldn’t want them to report on the conditions of these camps. Well it appears they are in fact being held in a guest house in Pyongyang:
Lisa Ling, the sister of imprisoned journalist Laura Ling, wipes her eye during a rally at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, July 9, 2009. More than 250 people gathered at a vigil in support of Laura Ling and fellow journalist Euna Lee who were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor by North Korea for entering the country illegally and "hostile acts." (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
North Korea has delayed sending two convicted U.S. journalists to a prison labor camp, in a possible attempt to seek talks with Washington on their release, a scholar who visited the North said in an interview published Friday.
Laura Ling and Euna lee, who work for former U.S. Vice President Al Gore’s California-based Current TV media group, are being kept at guest house in the North Korean capital and have not yet been sent to a prison camp as called for in their sentences, University of Georgia political scientist Han Park said.
“I heard from North Korean officials that the American journalists were doing fine at a guest house in Pyongyang,” Park told South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper. Park, originally from South Korea, arrived Thursday in Seoul following a trip to Pyongyang. [Huffington Post]
Well it is good they are being held in a guest house in Pyongyang if true because it shows that the North Koreans believe they will be released in the near term as well and are apparently treating them well. ROK Drop reader Spelunker believes that Al Gore may include a surprise North Korea stop during his itinerary to preach the global warming gospel and rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars of speaking fees in Australia. It will be interesting to see if Spelunker’s prediction pans out.
On a side note it is amusing that Al Gore is heading to Melbourne at a time the city is experiencing record low cold temperatures.
1:09 pm on July 10th, 2009 1
Things are moving quickly; here’s the latest with more revelations from Dr. Han Park’s Pyongyang trip:
For months US officials have urged North Korea to release the two Americans on “humanitarian” grounds. That language continued even after Ling and Lee had been convicted and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor. US officials say the two remain in Pyongyang and have not yet been sent to labor camps. US officials say the two remain in Pyongyang and have not yet been sent to labor camps.
State Department spokesman Ian Kelly yesterday called on North Korea to grant the two Americans “amnesty,” a term that would imply they are being pardoned, and thus a tacit admission that the two did something wrong.
According to ABC News consultant Dr Han Park, who recently returned from Pyongyang, North Korea wants to hear an admission that the two strayed into their territory, and wants to hear it from US officials, before they release them.
Park told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that the issue of the journalists could be resolved if the U.S. government offers an official apology and promises such things won’t happen again.
Park also predicted that Washington and Pyongyang could hold a dialogue soon over the journalists’ release and their return to the U.S., according to Yonhap. No timeframe for a possible meeting was given.
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1:59 pm on July 10th, 2009 2
“Park told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that the issue of the journalists could be resolved if the U.S. government offers an official apology and promises such things won’t happen again.”— This once again proves how the North Koreans are completely ignorant of the idea of having a media outlet not controlled directly from the state. They cannot fathom American journalism not being oversead by the U.S. government.
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2:43 pm on July 10th, 2009 3
U.S. government officials making promises that they themselves know won’t be kept
Can’t wait for Hillary to tell the North Koreans:
“Read my lips…”
I’m ready to make another bold prediction: Before Obama’s presidency is over, there will be yet another American caught trespassing across the China/North Korea border at either Changbai Mountain or the Tumen River.
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July 10th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I suspect with the current administration, Hillory will not only appologize but will bend over in offering it. The current administration seems to have aknowledged to themselves that they are the evil axis of the world and they need to make ammends on behalf of the rest of us evildoers.
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5:44 pm on July 10th, 2009 4
The US apologizing for something as minor as reporters overstepping a border…That’s plain nuts. How can the US be responsible of the actions of two civilians (not that I’m convinced they were really in North Korea, nor would it be a crime that deserves anything more severe than deportation and a fine if they were)? The North really wants to use this for propaganda purposes. “See, they are spies. The US admitted it by apologizing.” It’s pathetic.
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11:46 am on July 11th, 2009 5
If you watch the Sharon Ito/Lisa Ling love-fest, you’ll notice that Ling claims that when the team left the US they had no intention of crossing the border (and that Euna Lee, a tape editor, was passionate about doing the story. She just threw the pair under the bus, and saved Current TV executive ass.
http://www.news10.net/video/default.aspx?aid=77998
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2:35 pm on July 11th, 2009 6
I actually participated in that online chat with Sharon Ito and Lisa Ling using the name “Itonotomo” instead of ‘Spelunker”.
Lisa Ling has rehearsed and recycled her responses from show to show. She always says the “no intention of crossing the border” bit and it’s soon followed by the “only Laura and Euna know themselves what happened on that day” line.
When Sharon Ito asked Lisa who was with Laura and Euna on March 17, Lisa mentions the local guide and producer without saying their names. This actually contradicts her previous parroted statement that “only Laura and Euna know themselves what happened on that day” because obviously Kim Seoung-cheol and Mitch Koss are key eyewitnesses.
Later during the Sharon Ito moderated interview she also described the incident as “a chaotic moment in which everybody fled”, giving us one more little piece of the jigsaw puzzle depicting how this all unfolded.
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2:39 pm on July 11th, 2009 7
“…Kim Seong-cheol and Mitch Koss are key eyewitnesses.”
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10:59 pm on July 13th, 2009 8
I know this sounds dreadful, but I think Lisa Ling is becoming a liability. She sounds rehearsed (contrast Euna Lee’s husband, who’s an actor,she seems to cry on cue, and she herself entered NK under false pretenses.
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