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Journalists sentenced to 12 years in labor camp for crossing border
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Sign at vigil for Lee and Ling. (AP Photo/David Zentz)
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The silence from North Korea on the fate of two journalists arrested for crossing the China-North Korea border has ended. North Korea, in another of many provocative moves in recent days, has reported that Euna Lee and Laura Ling, two reporters working for Al Gore’s Current TV, have been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for their crime. North Korean law provides that the women will be transferred to the prison within 10 days.
The White House has expressed concern about the journalists’ conviction and sentence, and many believe that now that the trial is over, diplomats can be sent to try and negotiate with the rogue State.
The sentence was the maximum that could be given under law, a move which many see as a political reaction to the U.S.’s recent threats to North Korea after the latter country bowed out of disarmament discussions, launched a rocket, and performed an underground nuclear test.
Although not much is known about labor camp conditions, Rev. Chun Ki-won, a South Korean missionary, notes that the labor camps are brutal and inhumane, with prisoners subjected to beatings as well as being forced to perform hard labor tasks.
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