Detained in North Korea: The plight of Laura Ling and Euna Lee

A woman holds a candle in support of Laura Ling and Euna Lee
photo by natasha bishop

Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee returned home to Los Angeles after being detained in North Korea nearly five months ago.  The plight of the two journalists began on March 17th, 2009 when they were detained by soldiers near North Korea’s border with China.  Laura and Euna were reporting for Al Gore's venture, Current TV, researching an important story about human trafficking along the border.

It wasn't until a few months into the harrowing ordeal that the families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee spoke out about the two journalists' detention in Pyongyang.  Their silence was understandable.  In a statement the families told supporters: "Our families have been very quiet because of the extreme sensitivity of the situation, but given the fact that our girls are in the midst of a global nuclear stand-off, we cannot wait any longer." (Lisa Ling via Laura and Euna Facebook page)  Shortly after the family began reaching out to the public, the girls trial date was set for June 4th in Pyongyang, North Korea where they were facing years in a hard labor camp.

The night of June 4th I attended a vigil in Santa Monica, CA which was attended by the families of Lee-Ling (Laura's sister, journalist Lisa Ling, father Doug Ling, mother Mary Ling and husband Iain Clayton attended along side Euna's husband Michael Saldalte).  The pain I saw in the eyes of every family member that night was heart-breaking.  This is where I personally became committed to doing whatever I could to help get these girls home.  I was not the only one, around this time a grass roots movement began to build all over the country.  Key players in this movement were Philadelphia based Brendan McShane Creamer who started a facebook group that became a central gathering place for supporters looking for information;  Richard Horgan aka @liberatelaura, a Los Angeles based freelance entertainment journalist, who created the dedicated twitter page @liberatelaura gaining thousands of followers by disseminating essential information to supporters; and of course the thousands of people all over the world who tweeted, wrote blogs and letters, prayed and sent well wishes to the family.  This movement was powerful.  It was an amazing thing to witness so many strangers coming together under one cause; to liberate Laura and Euna, and also, to support a family 99% of them have and probably will never meet.  

The morning after the Santa Monica vigil we all found out the iron fist had come down, the girls were sentenced to 12 years hard labor in a North Korean camp.  For now, they were being held in the medical detention ward due to Laura's ulcer and an undisclosed medical condition Euna had.  This was a devastating blow for the family and their supporters.  The movement never gave up, in my heart, I think we were all able to provide a pillow of support for the Ling-Lee families to lean on when they were feeling helpless.  

June 8th brought the first response from the White House with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling for a humanitarian release of the two journalists.  The request was met with silence.  Still the movement pressed on, spreading awareness around the internet and in their communities, even celebrities began to take notice tweeting about the two young ladies trapped in North Korea.  Vigils were held all over the nation and reached as far as Paris France and South Korea.  The story seemed to be surviving in the media even with the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett.  In fact, Gotham Chopra friend of Laura Ling, and as it happens, Michael Jackson shared a recent story that when Michael saw the reports of Laura and Euna's detainment in North Korea he wanted to try and help.  Thinking perhaps Kim Jong Il may be a fan, Michael thought he could do something.  When Gotham explained there were higher politics involved Michael said “but if someone wants to do something good, they just can. They don’t really need to worry about all that other stuff.” (intent.com) This speaks to how deeply this story infiltrated our thoughts and hearts.

Lisa Ling, sister of Laura Ling, received a late night call from North Korea on July 7th, it was Laura delivering a very specific message.  Lisa said her sister “was very specific about the message that she was communicating, Laura said, ‘Look, we violated North Korean law and we need our government to help us. We are sorry about everything that has happened, but we need diplomacy.’ (CNN)  Not long after this message was made public Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke out again asking that the journalists be granted amnesty and apologized for the incident.  This was a much more powerful message than before as the United States was admitting wrong-doing and apologizing.  Ten days later a story broke from South Korea that the US and North Korea had begun light negotiations in the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee.  Looking back now, this could be when talks of Bill Clinton going to North Korea began.

Days went by with no word, I had been following Lisa Ling on twitter since the vigil in Santa Monica. On July 29th she tweeted: “@lisaling hoping Laura will call me tonight...and every night.”  That broke my heart.  I got on my knees that night and prayed for the family and the girls.  August 2nd I knew something was in the works when I saw “@lisaling is feeling positive...” The next day news broke that Bill Clinton was on his way to North Korea on a private mission to negotiate the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee.  It all moved very quickly from that point, next thing I knew I was watching video of Laura and Euna boarding a plane bound for Los Angeles!

The plight of Laura Ling and Euna Lee is over, they have their freedom back.  Freedom means Euna can finally hold her four year old child Hana, Laura can call her sister tonight and every night, Michael and Iain have their wives back, and Mary and Doug can be with their little girl.  Those freedoms are invaluable, these are actions the Ling-Lee families will never take for granted again.  After seeing what these families have gone through, I too will never take those freedoms for granted again.  When I saw the footage of Laura and Euna stepping off the plane the excitement I felt was beyond explanation.  The sense of pride for my country was immeasurable.  Bill Clinton's private mission to North Korea made me feel like every individual was important to our country.  Thank you Bill Clinton, you are an extraordinary world citizen!

This article was written in a few hours but was five months in the making, this story will live in my heart forever.  

Thank you to all of my friends who signed the petitions, wrote letters to the white house, sent postcards to the girls, prayed for their safe return, wrote your own blogs, informed your friends, tweeted and never complained about my daily North Korea updates.  You guys are amazing!  The movement that came together to support the efforts to bring Euna and Laura home made an impact on our government to take action and also helped the families of the girls through the last five months.  Thank You and welcome home Laura and Euna, it's great to have you two back!

More Information
Footage of Laura and Euna landing in Burbank: youtube.com
LiberateLaura on Twitter: @liberatelaura
LiberateLaura blog: LiberateLaura.wordpress.com
Official Facebook Page: Laura and Euna Facebook
Official Website: LauraandEuna.com
My Santa Monica vigil story: CNN.com
Information on current journalists detained all over the world: CPJ.org

Bill Clinton brings home journalists, but what did North Korea gain from the deal?

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