Results tagged “eunalee”

Yesterday, the country witnessed the dramatic reunion between formerly imprisoned journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling and their families, a reunion orchestrated by former President Bill Clinton, his former Vice President Al Gore, and the White House. Though the White House was working to secure the release of Lee and Ling, Current TV journalists who were sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp by North Korea for illegally entering the country, and had considered envoys like Gore, Bill Richardson, and Senator John Kerry, it turned out that North Korea requested former president Clinton. Lee and Ling, who were being held in a guest house, both told their families in phone calls that North Korea would consider amnesty if "an envoy in the person of President Clinton would agree to come to Pyongyang and seek their release."

       

After former President Bill Clinton made a "surprise trip" to North Korea and secured the pardon of two imprisoned U.S. journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, the trio made their way back to the United States. Their plane arrived in Burbank, California this morning, where the women made a tearful reunion with their families. Ling made a statement, expressing her and Lee's gratitude and remarking on the drama of their ordeal, "Thirty hours ago, Euna Lee and I were prisoners in North Korea. We feared that at any moment we could be prisoners in a hard labor camp. Then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting," and then spoke of seeing Clinton. Here's video:

     

[UPDATE BELOW] Today, former president Bill Clinton met North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. Clinton made the surprise trip to the isolated Communist nation to discuss the release of two American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who were sentenced to 12 years in labor camps for illegally entering North Korea.

Former president Bill Clinton is in North Korea right now, in hopes of gaining the release of the two U.S. journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling. Two months ago, Lee and Ling were sentenced to 12 years in labors camps for illegally entering North Korea, but earlier tonight, Politico reported, "North Korean officials told the family that they would release the women to Clinton, the source said. The family then approached the former president. The source said the White House approved the mission, which began Tuesday, North Korea time."

Two American journalists, who were arrested by North Korea while covering North Korean refugees in China three months ago, were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor by the Central Court of North Korea. Korea's official news agency KCNA reported that the court accused Euna Lee and Laura Ling of "committing hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry." The U.S. State Department released a statement, "We are deeply concerned by the reported sentencing of the two American citizen journalists by North Korean authorities, and we are engaged through all possible channels to secure their release. We once again urge North Korea to grant the immediate release of the two American citizen journalists on humanitarian grounds." Lee and Ling work for San Francisco-based Current TV, which was co-founded by Al Gore. The AP adds, "There are fears Pyongyang is using the women as bargaining chips as the U.N. debates a new resolution to punish the country for its defiant May 25 atomic test and as North Korea seeks to draw Washington into direct negotiations," but one law professor in Seoul said, "The sentence doesn't mean much because the issue will be resolved diplomatically in the end."