A sad update to our earlier report of the two U.S. journalists from online media network Current TV who were being detained by the North Korean government after crossing the border between China and North Korea while they were reporting on refugees fleeing poverty. The LA Times reports that Chinese-American Laura Ling and Korean-American Euna Lee have been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in a NK prison.
The pair was sentenced by the top Central Court in Pyongyang – which also rules out the ability to appeal the verdict – in a non-public two-day trial that started Friday as U.S. officials demanded the release of the two women.
In a statement, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said:
“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.”
As NewTeeVee briefly points out, neither Current TV nor its founder Al Gore have so far publicly commented on the situation and the brutal sentence. Now the LA Times says a Japanese TV channel has reported that Gore would be prepared to fly to Pyongyang and secure the women’s freedom (this was depending on the outcome of the trial, but it could have hardly gone any worse than this).
It was a brutal sentence. North Korea is getting crazy.
I would guess that the only purpose of the sentence is to set up Laura and Euna to be used as political pawns in future negotiations. IMHO this should not be accepted and there should be a demand by the West for unconitional and immediate release. Failure to comply should result in dramatic consequences for the leadership of NK as this is, in effect, a criminal act on their part. What i wrote may seem a bit naive, but Laura and Euna represent to me the most amazing of my generation has to offer. Philosophically, leadership there has no right to oppress it’s own citizens, let alone violate human rights of citizens from other countries. But what I write is terribly naive. Perhaps we should think in another direction. What exactly is the problem and how can it be solved? If the problem is that the country is economically in ruins while the leadership is scrambling for survival, can this be changed as part of the solution that gets Laura and Euna out perhaps along with millions who have effectively been forgotten simply because they are stuck behind an iron curtain?
correction: the most amazing of WHAT my generation has to offer. My iPhone is not playing nice with these comments.
Haha, HARD punishment. I lold.
Some people(journalists) flirt too much to put their country in trouble.
Thank god someone finally locked up Lisa Ling and her Oprah-esque, self-righteous, boring Twiggy a$$.
Oh, wait, it wasn’t Lisa?
Ship her over to Kimmy, ASAP!
I think the best thing that could come out of this is Al Gore flying out there and getting himself locked up.
http://www.anonboard.com – Anonymous Free Speech Forum.
These comments are very harsh, you are rediculous. But, all the self righteous liberals should take notice, not everyone is willing to put up with your bullshit. Try some common sense, it goes a lot further and is much more effective.
yeah they are being used big time as bargaining chips. I don’t think that these two high profile citizens will be spending those 12 years in a labor camp at all. america will be forced to make concessions. These two will most likely be traded for food aid.
but it would be funny if al gore flew over to north korea and they imprisoned him.
nk is a cancer on the face of this beautiful earth that maybe some radiation might cure. the nk”s have been extorting aid from other countrys for years. you give us food and we won’t try to nuke you. nk is a military state and nothing else matters to them, not even the survival of there own people. obama is a joke, he will probably issue an apology again like he has been doing everywhere he goes. if bush was still in they would already be free. nk leadership serves no purpose to the world, they will one day reep what they sew. but the sad part is, so will millions of innocent people in nk. one country cannot take on the whole world, not even the united states.
Your spelling mistakes put you at a sixth grade level. Get back to us when you graduate from junior high school.
@mike, they are not “millions of innocent people…” The millions of NK citizens are just as radical and evil as the NK leadership. Haven’t you seen recent, random interviews of NK people on the streets? They are all fanatical followers of Kim Jong Ill and his father. They ALL want to destroy America.
I am not pro american by any means but did they not break the law. You should be aware of the law where ever you are. U.S law is not universal and does not apply to the rest of the world. The sentence is unfair though and your probably right, but as reporters they should have known the risks.
did they spy or not…was the cia also in on this
that’s the question we need to ask
Obama hasn’t made any statement yet that I know of about these two unfortunate journalists. Obama, please, do something to get them out of there. I know it’s difficult to deal with these damned NK authorities. But you can engage UN and other countries, especially European ones, that seem to be powerless to tackle NK issues. I wish the NK authorities could be softened down the way those Iranian authorities were.
Wow. They got arrested in South Korea? I’m SHOCKED! Usually that’s such a friendly and welcoming place. Yes, please Obama, save us.
North, not South.
Kim Jong Il must be on dead on arrival in his communist nation, South has already 5 nations (6 party talks)
How is this worse than what happened to these guys? “Two Afghan journalists, who spent three years in the infamous United States military prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have released a new chronicle on life in the now famous iron cages. ”
http://www.comm...s06/0801-11.htm
It’s okay when you do it for Freedumb and Leebertee.
You mean they weren’t crazy before?
Hats off to all these journalists…they really have some guts!!! ….but I still don’t understand why do people go to N. Korea….
http://www.livbit.com
burn the video and let them go! its not like the girls are the ones letting off nuclear bombs in secrecy! really, whos the real criminals here?
Clearly, Kim Jong il continues to be misunderstood by the West. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is entitled to manage it’s internal security as it sees fit. There are no special exclusions for American journalists who “accidentally wander” across borders. We would certainly prosecute Korean journalists who “accidentally wandered” across our borders.
John Lee Bingham
Evanston, IL
do we know that they crossed a border, either by accident or on purpose? Yes we would detain if it were reveresed but there would be a fair (fairer) trial held in the open. If Ronald Regan were here there would be 2 carrier task forces surrounding NK and another on the way. He would show NK how to destablize a region.
NK’s Chinese border isn’t as well defended as you might imagine. In some places, it isn’t even marked. A few years ago, there was a British student, Joel Emond, who was hiking in a Chinese national park and accidentally walked into NK territory without realising it, where he was subsequently arrested by the NK authorities and held for two weeks.
Also, Peter Hessler, an American journalist/teacher who loves in China, reported that he was hiking around a lake near the border and was able to wander a few feet into NK territory (obviously with no-one around).
I think we’re overlooking the possibility that these two journalists were abducted. If they were investigating NK citizens who escaped into China, then it is very possible NK (or Chinese) agents had a hand in delivering them to NK.
They had no business crossing the bourder into a country such as NK without understanding the risks ( which they did!). All they did was create more drama! I would hate to see the U.S. in another politcal battle over a couple of glorified poparatzi. They knew better now they will pay.
So did these two CIA agents sneak into North Korea on a rogue mission, or did Current TV send them there? Did Current know what they were up to ahead of time? Interesting to find out. If Al is reading this board, maybe he could comment.
How do we know these two women are NOT working for the North Korean Government?
They allowed themselves to be captured as US Citizens to give the North Korean Government a bargain chip to deal with the United States.
Just a though.
Paul
sort of puts all the bickering from http://www.tech...ess-journalism/ into perspective.
This is terrible, terrible news and must be devastating to their families. What could they possibly have done that deserves such a punishment?
North Korea is obviously trying to send a message here, but that court is way out of line. I doubt commenting on this story can do much good but I’m so incredibly angry right now and this is just the first way for me to put it out there.
They didn’t do anything wrong. It’s geopolitics.
And “way out of line”? They are a totalitarian dictatorship with no civil liberties and a legal system controlled by the ruling regime. It’s not a matter of them being out of line so much as providing them with a bargaining chip with the US. They’ll give the journalists back – in exchange for something they want from the US government.
What a tragedy. Of course this isn’t the first (or probably the last) time North Korea has arrested individuals that have done nothing towards North Korea’s government. But every time I hear about this absurd “trials” it makes me so angry.
I honestly hope that there is somehow or someway they can be released by North Korea, but at this point in time I am extremely concerned and pessimistic.
This is a travesty.The US, UN and governments around the world need to speak about this outrage so that these two incredible women can go home safely.
It’s completely american to break a country’s law and then expect to go home. Idiots. They broke Korean law and should face the consequences.
there are lots of laws in this world against a lot of things. sometimes breaking them is the only thing you can and still call yourself human.
Um … OK. That doesn’t change the fact that you broke the law and are susceptible to punishment. FYI, vigilantism is illegal.
legality != morality
legality=morality
Oh, really… It used to be perfectly legal to own slaves, so slavery is moral? Your momma know you leave the house so stupid?
Legal/moral is what the guy with the biggest stick says it is. Was it legal/moral to drop thousands of tons of bombs on German and Japanese civilians? I did not see any of the Allies on trial for War Crimes after WWII. It is now as it will always be,
“MIGHT MAKES RIGHT”
If we do not understand and accept that fact NOW we will be with the Egyptian, Romans and English (to name a few).
History!
“Your momma know you leave the house so stupid?”
!= means not equal. If you don’t know that, why are you reading TechCrunch?
Mike do not speak like this. Sure many college kids smoke pot while in college and break the law states side. But you are mixing apples with oranges. Laws in one country and laws in another country and how they are administered are not the same bro.
Go to Singapore and steal or spray paint the place or worst go to Laos with 1.5lb (680g) heroin and see what happens. I am sure in Laos you would get a Life sentence, much harder than the 12 years for these women in NK.
The fact is do not confuse the liberal port hole you look through and assume the rest of the world should see it the same way.
Sure we both enjoy it to some extent as not even a powerful blog like yours can force Facebook to remove those sick anti Jew groups denying the Holocaust.
Oh good god, are you sure you were a lawyer?
Mike’s right. It doesn’t mean that NK is legally wrong for jailing the two women, but NK can still be ethically wrong according to most of the rest of the world and any worthwhile principles.
The distinction does not make it open season on all laws, just on unethical laws. Which is still a problem, given the way we are taking our ethical cues from theories of biological determinism and economic rational self interest.
How do you even know they broke any laws? Were you there?
Well, considering they were apprehended on NK soil, they obviously crossed the border illegally. In addition, considering the fact that they were most likely there to shoot an expose piece, charges of spying could reasonably brought against them. IMO, the sentence is harsh, but to break the laws of a sovereign nation and expect to get away scotch free shows arrogance. They knew what they were doing was criminal and had negative consequences. They were just naive. Too bad for them.
What they were doing was bringing attention to issues that we choose to ignore in the comfort of our homes. As for sovereignty, I think it is completely immoral for the world to give sovereignty and protection to a government that is so unjustifiably cruel to the people they are supposed to govern.
As for your suggestion that covering human trafficking can somehow be reasonably translated into espionage charges… I am not sure we can find a common language if you hold this position.
Time are changing. Borders between countries now define who collects taxes and delineate culture rather than provide curtains of ignorance. Yet there are still bastions where governments came to power in a volatile manner resulting in use and management of populace rather their governance. Laura and Euna are not on the side of US, or Canada, or Europe, they are on the side of humanity, which is quickly becoming the citizenship of choice. And I hope that this event will further accelerate evolution of repressive regimes into what they should eventually become – governments that provide services to its people.
The question for us, I feel, should be how we can bring this about quicker. Not just for Laura and Euna, but for all the people that are right now living in grotesque conditions almost completely forgetten just so long as NK doesn’t get nukes. Sanctions hurt the people, not the government. War involves civilian population before involving governing bodies.
Are there things that we can do from a technological perspective to help? Imagine if, for example, Android phones were air-dropped into NK allowing regions to organize self-governance while providing jobs through Amazon Turk and offering mobile-based currency management. This would put the government in a position when they would have to become either ultra-aggressive or, if there is an upside to this for them, to go along with a campaign like this, which would enable the country to quickly establish a reasonable economic infrastructure with a rapid shift in political infrastructure without creating volatility. I realize this is far-fetched, but we live in a time when Twitter went from zero to being used in hospitals… that seems to me more far-fetched than using technology to help peaceful socio-economic transitions.
Really? We know for a fact how they came to be arrested???? REALLY? WHO SAID? DPRK? CHINA? Mr. Gore needs to send in some more of his journalists to find out what actually happened.
Clearly, most people would agree that the sentence is inappropriate.
Then again of course, sentences in the US are, for a large part, also outrageously high, which somewhat lessens the credibility of criticism here.
Not at all. You can’t take the views of the few who think such sentences are appropriate and apply them to 300 million people.
US justice aint no better.
theres a woman in CA who got 25-life for 3 strike stealing bed sheets from jayceepennie.
man gets 3rd strike in CA 25-life for taking pizza from a teenagers hand.
ca dept of corruptions – houses 180,000 inmates costing avg $40,000 dollars a year to house. state going broke who do they chop first? parks, summerschool, elderly programs, medical for kids.
its easier to enroll in prison than it is to enroll in school.
JusticeLocator.com –
theres a fortune in failure – keep’em coming
So you guys are moving to NK for some fair and equal justice?
yea well, i look at it this way. if someone wants to give up there life for bed sheets or pizza then they deserve life in prison. because they are some dumb morons… 3 strikes your out means don’t do anything else stupid, stupid.
Oh bollocks. I’m the first one to comment about Americans and their inability to respect local laws and customs but in this case it’s politics – nothing more.
I’ve seen cases where I would agree with the sentiment. And not just Americans.
I just don’t think that its applicable in this case. I credit them with enough intelligence to realise that the US has no influence. They knew the risk they were taking and took it anyway. Sometimes its difficult to tell the difference between bravery and stupidity.
Yeah, because putting your life on the line to help others in an attempt to make the world a better place is always “stupid.” If this is part of what he means by “completely american”, then I guess I’m proud to be one of them.
Fubar, are you retarded? You’ve never jaywalked? Should I have my legs chopped off b/c I broke this law?
If you think North Korean commie laws that legitimize genocide is something we should abide by, then i guess you are right
You should have your legs chopped off if you know the punishment and you chooose not to obey the law. We all get the government we accept. If they don’t like it they need to change it.
I think if we don’t like what other countries do then we must take it upon ourselves to change that. Otherwise we can’t complain about it.
Don’t you think if we do not take action to stop injustice then we are condoning it?
hello asshole.
the two ladies are AMERICANS who got arrested in NORTH KOREA. Do you know the laws of every country you visit? Do you even know every law in US?
you said it best!!!!
Man, that is awful.
Honestly, they should have seen this coming. You have to be retarded to be over there right now trying to cross the border. If you play with fire, you get burned – simple as that.
I feel bad for their families because there is likely no way they will be released early as this is “We don’t give a f**k about the rest of the world” North Korea. They will likely be used as pawns in global politics, sad.
The offenders knew what the law was, why break it?
In Singapore, you are executed for carrying X amount of hard drugs or murdering somebody. The law is written so that there is no room for liniency. Everybody knows this and if you are stupid enough to commit murder or try to deal drugs, you deserve your fate, IMHO.
You have to be pretty stupid, in all honesty, trying to sneak into North Korea. While the punishment is harsh, what did these people expect?
They are journalists. This is their job and that’s exactly what we expect them to do.
I hope they are released soon.
Sorry, laws don’t change on occupation… lol who am I kidding, they do for some but not journalists.
Gonna have to agree with you on this one. I’m an American living in Singapore. I am very very careful to respect the laws. I don’t know them all, but in most cases common sense will prevail.
And… common sense is exactly what these two women didn’t have. Who in their right mind tries to sneak into a country full of crazy bastards like North Korea? You couldn’t pay me enough money to convince me to get any closer to that place than the DMZ b/t N. and S. Korea.
Their sentence is harsh, but they knew they were playing a dangerous game when they illegally crossed an international border into North Korea. The “I’m an American” card only works in movies. This is real life.
You wouldn’t even know these things about NK if not for the people who take these risks.
Agreed. I could understand the criticism these women are getting if they were doing something selfish like smuggling drugs, but risking their lives in order to help others? Seriously, come on people–when’s the last time you ever put anything close to your life on the line to help someone else?
This is nearly identical to Steve Irwin getting stabbed by a stingray on the job. It is sad and we all feel bad for his family, but at the end of the day, everyone knew he was playing high-stakes poker with his life.
You don’t think Ling and Lee had high-reward of being two up-and-coming journalists that break a story of this magnitude on their mind?
Sorry for the cynicism, but I have barely any sympathy for them.
The “I’m an American” card worked when America used to protect its citizens at home and abroad. Now you and I are expendible so as not to stir the pot up.
I long for the old days when you could count on the Calvary to come over the hill to save you. Hope we can get ‘em back.
It is very sad to see such human tragedy is needed occasionally to highlight the brutality that exists in the world. Clearly these two highly educated journalists understood the risks and decided to pursue the larger good.
This type of tragedy also elevates the credibility of SF based current-tv in pursuing stories that others leave out.
With all the layoffs in the news industry, who will pursue the stories that others won’t?
Hopefully Ricardson will be on a plane back to North Korea, and we can look forward to hearing their stories firsthand at the Churchill Club
What about the innocents men and adolescents who were sent to Guantanamo and other secret CIA prisons? They didn’t even have the right to a trial and they got tortured.
This news is shit in all sense of the word, but don’t act like this naive Facebook user (…) who still believe that his country is the home of the free and all that BS. Wake the fuck up body! If these womens are in NK jails it’s because 1. They were unconscious and not incredible 2. The U.S. started all this.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you would realize that Guantanamo has been a major international issue for years and has brought the US much scorn.
If journalists are sneaking around restricted government properties, or secure areas, I can’t really feel bad for the sentence. If NK actually picked them outside of the border, then of course it will make me livid.
Either way, I don’t know if we’ll ever know the truth, and I don’t want another war just to find out.
The sad part is that the truth is between China, North Korea, and those 2 journalists. And the only people who are going to tell it have been silenced.
Journalists should mind their own business. They usually gets screwed up when they don’t keep their nose away from other peoples’ business.
This is a good lesson to the Journalists who came to interfere with matters related to Sri Lanka’s civil war.
I do not agree with Kim Jong Il’s policies. Still a good lesson for poky journalists and USA.
So you’re saying that REPORTING ON THINGS and INVESTIGATING are thing Journalists should never do… yeesh, you’re an asshole.
Man who like arm no feed Lion at zoo.
One can only hope that this finally pushes the US over the edge to do something drastic about NK. But sadly, the State Department language seems to suggest that they’ve already given up on those two journalists.
What do you propose the US government do?
The US jails anyone illegally but peacefully crossing a border. Spying with a camera on government property is a different level.
Save 2 American journalists, let’s pray for them…save them..
Don’t worry. Whoever (CIA) sent them there, will try to bring them back.
Ignore and break laws, then complain because it happens to be legal back in yours.
Let’s remind everyone to light a joint on US soil when they land back from Amsterdam.
You have to either respect the law and culture of the country you’re in, or not complain after you’ve willingly broke the law.
NK arrested those journalists for political reasons – end. A regime like NK don’t care if you respect their culture or law – and respecting the law when there’s no seperation of power is a silly concept.
Agreed they shouldn’t have crossed the border – for their own safety – but some people have to challenge regimes like NK by, among other things, reporting about the conditions in the country.
Finally, the US have some of the most brutal sentences in the world with 2 million people in prison. So if any of you Americans think 12 years in labour camp is hard, I agree. Now go and fix your legislation.
The sort of Americas who spend time on technology blogs are not generally those who support redicuolously harsh sentences.
Labor camp is not that bad…you get room and board!
Journalist have to understand that they are not above the law and the US also has to understand we are not above international law.
They broke the law and we will see them in 15 years, they will be stronger. They will pay their debts to society and therefore be better citizens because of it.
Message to them when they get out: Don’t investigate a law breaker by breaking the law.
Cats
BTW North Korea will release them in a week…so get a hold of yourself people!
Yeah right. Release their fresh young American human shield from a possible air strike or nuclear strike from the U.S?
The thought just came to me. NK is smart. As long as they have these gals the U.S will think twice to strike unless it is all out war of course.
Can you imagine these gals were conveniently moved to a location where a missile strike was to take place just so NK can argue they were giving them a close up look at their peaceful self defense installations
I disagree.
I’m sorry if I think people need to oppose oppressive regimes and shed light on the realities/injustices/ cruelties that lies behind closed borders.
I think what they did was dangerous, I think it was a valuable and noble effort. Having 15 years of hard labor is something the US should fight against on principle.
North Korea is the nation’s enemy of the United States, South Korea’s friends are Russia, US, China, and Japan…North attacking South because they want to be one nation and North wants to force South into a communist state.
This is a touchy situation. North Korea is a country that will never cave in. Maybe something can be done to save face. Threatening this country’s leader to release these two journalists will only make things worse. I hope Gore and the Prez can negotiate somehow.
KIM JONG IL OUT
North Koreans hates their living nations because there has no freedom there and full of greed because of that crazy dear leader…many refugees living in different nations, without their passports or they immigrate on it…
illegal border crossing then 12 years in labor camp prison, what a crazy law… the North Korean law will not passed by the US, it’s too exaggerated..
the world hates North Korea because of that
North Korea is going to start a war with The United States doing stupid stuff like that. Iran knew what time it was and toned down their rhetoric
Looks like NK does not give a dam. Funny thing is they really have no real weapons to threaten anyone. I mean any missile launched can be shot down or laser down in seconds. So unless they have another way on a substantial attack they are just messing around with destiny as far as the USA is concerned.
NK can inflict much harm to SK and Japon as they are in such close range or conventional and non conventional weapons.
Sanity will prevail. A few billions in aid here and there, some Whiskey, Playboy mags and tapes, and everyone will be singing the happy tune. I just do not know how long the whiskey will last
In Iran’s case, Roxana Saberi admitted that she copied a classified document where she was working as an English editor. Go to the NPR radio website and listen to her most recent interview. She said she copied the document because she is a curious person. What a stupid spy. Even Iran realized how stupid she is, so they let her go (maybe in exchange for Iranians under US custody in Iraq).
I’ve heard of people going to jail for ten years in the USA because they smoked a joint and/or was found passing one (or any other of the insane marijuana related charges coming from the DEA).
Laws are ridiculous all over the world, just depends on your point of view. 10 years JAIL for smoking a plant? Insane. 10 years LABOR for illegally entering a country? Pfft, USA punishes people for attempting to enter their country every day.
That said however, the USA should be doing everything they possibly can (and more) to return their own citizens (much as they would do if those people were any kind of Government official).
Yow, it looks like NK is getting tons of propaganda material from TC. I can see it now. “Taken from top blog in the USA”. You know like leave out that it is a Tech blog. 1-7 reasons why NK is correct. Shit man gets 25- life for stealing slice of pizza in the USA
. WOW
Im sorry but they broke the law therefore what ever happens its there own fault.
When a journalist takes on a project that may get them in trouble they are supposed to know what may happen and if they don’t its on them; they chose to go into North Korea knowing damn well what could happen so they should have had a plan on what to do if they got caught.
The country should not be wasting time and money when there the ones that have messed up. The State Department advises people not to go to different nations and if they choose to go they should be on there own period.
This is a good debate on a topic where there should be little debate. Journalists certainly understand the risks of their occupation and the fact that they may have to break local laws in search of the true story that foreign authorities are trying to keep buried. This is no small task and when done properly, many are indebted to these folks.
However, even with the risks being known, when things go awry and an overkill sentence like this is imposed by a foreign court, someone needs to protect and vigorously defend these folks. How impotent have we (US) become vs. the rest of the world? We (US) claim to fight for the right causes and the pursuit of liberty, yet when obvious atrocities are committed to our own, we seem to stand by and watch, as if virtually helpless, or worse, cave into demands of inferior nations and advance their inappropriate causes that much further.
Journalists perform a much needed and, from my perspective at least, much respected service to humanity. If they were acting as spies, terrorists, conspirators, etc., I’d agree this cannot be allowed by any government and I might have a differing opinion. As it has been presented, tho, their only offense is illegally crossing the border.
Those whose stance it is that it is American thinking to break the law and not be punished:
1. The US was founded by people who broke away from what they believed was wrong, undoubtedly breaking their British laws to do so.
2. In the US, when someone illegally crosses the border, they have as many rights as do US citizens (in fact, perhaps moreso) and a lobby in Washington DC who looks out for their interests.
When the laws are there to suppress and control you is exactly when those laws need to be broken or exposed to the world. Countries engaging in these tactics, like North Korea and China, need to learn it is not right and will not be tolerated. Please save these journalists and prove we are not a nation of sock puppets.
Has anyone thought of the fact that they were working in some capacity for the former Vice-President of the United States? Not only does he have a lot of contacts in DC, but he certainly is in touch with a boatload of NGOs that would love to have the former VP’s weight behind them. A gov’t such as North Korea (isolated and probably paranoid) cannot take a chance on letting them waltz back and forth across the border with cameras. To us, it would be like Castro or the Medillein Cartel running a bread delivery business for Congress’s kitchen in DC.
At least the North Korean government charged them with a crime. Let us not forget that the US government has detained journalist and US citizens without charge and still holds them indefinately in Guantanamo Bay. Before we bad mouth foreign leaders and politics we must think about how our own country is acting. Lead by example, North Korea is none of our business, it was these journalists decision to cross the border.
OMG your so totally riiiight the US is EXACTLY the same as North Korea!
Pretty nice job by the NK officials. You fellow Americans, wonder and cry, that 2 US citizen were sentenced. Don’t forget, they must hava been spies for the US government. Nobody sends its employees on a self-destruct mission.
nobody but Al Gore and Current TV.
huh? mik you are very young or you have a short memory.
“Nobody sends its employees on a self-destruct mission.”
Tell that to the U.S. Navy during WWII or the Iraqi people who just got blown apart while praying at their mosque. Plenty of instances of governments sending their people on “self destruct missions”. They just need to be desperate enough to do it.
No one.. oh come on – CNN sent journalists in to Iraq during the first gulf war – Reuters sent journalists in to Sierra Leone – Associated Press sent journalists in to the Indochina war
The only way for journalism to be conducted, frontline style, is to .. go to the frontline.
Grow up.
you dont just cross the border w/out a legal document. yall deserve it! no one should complain. rules are rules. i dont see ppl complain when the border patrol beat the crap out of the mexican illegal immigrants. just becoz n.korea is communist nation? so we are saying we americans can break any rule that we want if the rule is made by the countries who are not on our favor list? don’t make sense do you think? my philosophy is: dont matter who you are, if you have done something wrong, you deserve the punishment
No statement from Obama (are they back from Paris yet?). No press conference from Gore?
Not surprised.
I thought this blog was all about how journalism is irrelevant…
North Korea is a sovereign nation. The two defendants were tried and convicted in a legitimate court in this sovereign nation. We should not be so arrogant criticize the legal system of another nation.
There is a legitimate reason for the trial not being public. That reason is national security. Many sovereign nations of the world hold trials in private for national security reasons.
There is no reasonable explanation as to why they were on the Korean border. They could have reported on the same topic without being so close to the border.
A lot of the outrage stems from whether or not they were even over the border when they were arrested; it’s becoming more and more clear that they are merely being set up as bargaining chips; North Korea doesn’t exactly have a good track record when it comes to legal transparency and fairness, hence the concern over the closed trail.
Using your brain is fun!
@ Jon, there were questions as to whether they had crossed the border– BEFORE THE TRIAL. That issue of fact was resolved by the trial court, a trial court in a sovereign nation. They were found to 1) to have crossed the border AND 2) to have engaged in subversive activities upon crossing the border. The whole point about sovereignty is that nations respect and not question the integrity of other nations’ court system.
sad news for them and their families
but me i have commonsense to stay away from certain countries eg. middle east, china, north korea etc…. no amount of money will make me go there
sad… no other word in my mind.
I think most people here are so naive about the real world because you have not travel or stay for a period of time in other countries. You always talk about morality and “what is right” or “what is good”. Remember, those are your standards. In other countries, a violation of law is a violation. You go to jail. You have to respect the sovereignty of other nations. Those journalists clearly know what they are doing. Just last month, the stupid American swam into house of Aung San Suu Kyi. The same goes for Tibet rebels. Why is it always the Americans imposing their sense of justices on the world?
Although I do feel bad about a 12 year sentance. Doesn’t anyone still think they should be sentenced to some time in jail? Maybe 12 months or so?. Plus, what were we thinking when we sent them there? I believe that Al Gore should go there himself and conduct their possible release. That’s if he’s got any balls. I would offer to go with him and photo document the event if needed. Plus, you have to look at it this way, If a North Korean slipped into our country, don’t you think we may try him or her as well? Unfortunately, we would most likely just deport them.
Jeff Stark Minot, North Dakota.
If memory serves, there are still a goodly number of Korean War MIAs that were believed to have been taken prisoner (perhaps by the NK Army, and/or perhaps by the Chinese PLA).
As long as the Kim family is so firmly rooted in North Korea, no American should ever set foot in the place.
Im a fellow Korean American and all I gotta say is North Korea needs to get bombed the shit out of this world map. They’re the new Nazis committing human atrocities to a whole new level. I am not for US toppling regimes but the poor helpless people of such harsh totalitarian state need our help.
They don’t like diplomacy, so let them feel the wrath of American B-52s.
We don’t realize how good we have it.
An american myself, they broke Foreign policy laws, and yes they should be punished. Its a cruel world that will not tolerate liberal views. We as U.S citizenz don’t always have to get our way. I’m sure alot of you don’t realize how bad were viewed by other countrys as arogant, but freeing these journalist with just a slap on the wrist is just adding fuel to the fire.
colive, !@#$% other countries. Do any of you really think that the “nicer” we act towards the world, the better we will be received? All you are showing is weakness and in most of the world weakness is not tolerated. If you want your country to have the wealth and stature of Bangladesh, do the rest of us a favor and just move there. Don’t tear us all down. I have kids that I want to have as good a life as the United States of America has provided for me. The direction the liberal mindset is taking us is the wrong way.
my prayer goes for the two journalist and their families.
kiah
NK Press? Girls get no love from Techcrunch blog
California:
Living Under the 3 Strikes Law
“A few outrageous cases of injustice have received publicity in the media–like the 27-year-old Black man from Compton facing 25-to-life in prison for stealing a slice of pizza. “There is a temptation to view these cases as oddities,” writes Vincent Schiraldi, executive director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. “But evidence is mounting statewide that such cases are becoming commonplace.” ”
Of course besides this URL link no one here can say if the above is real or a fake.
“There are now 227 people doing 25-to-life in California for “petty theft with a prior.” 387 people are doing 25-to-life for simple drug possession. 792 are doing 25-to-life for burglary. 34 are doing life for forgery or fraud. ”
http://revcom.u...974/3strike.htm
Interesting note below, how the site posting the 3 strikes laws a commies
. Though they are are is the article legit? As if it is it is high grade propaganda for NK Gov. controlled press.
This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolutionary Worker Online
http://rwor.org
Write: Box 3486, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 60654
Phone: 773-227-4066 Fax: 773-227-4497
(The RW Online does not currently communicate via email.)
http://revcom.us/
“This is the official website for Revolution newspaper, voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. “
Or was the original info on the pizza stealing jail time done by NK spies in the USA? Mike you see how TC is powerful? Dam.
Can anyone track down another source via the net of “man from Compton facing 25-to-life in prison for stealing a slice of pizza” besides what is obviously a website operated by some nut cases about communism in the USA?
I have looked and cannot find any other besides the one listed above. Anyone knowing more about this post it. I think it will a good discussion on another site. Thankx.
OK, tracked it down. But not sure about its authenticity.
“We now have people serving 25 years to life in California for drug possession, for stealing a pizza”
Taken from article “Three Strikes 15 Years Later: We’re All Out — of Money, and Time”
http://www.alte...amp;pID=1163686
http://www.alte...bout/index.html
This blows. These people were just trying to film/ show the true poverty that lies within NK and they now have 12 years to pay for that. NK is one P-O-S country.
Time to shut down Kim the NK elites the only place they care about. No more financial transactions with anyone else in the world. No more imports of any cool toys. Let them all rot in the prison of a country they have created – soon enough the elites around Kim will come looking for something better.
Got to get China on board to make this happen.
These two broke the law and now they have been punished.
How is that, in any way, unfair?
I’m glad that countries like NK will stand up to bullying America.
At least NK waited to find them guilty instead of locking them up with no chance of a trial on the off chance that they may do something wrong in the future… they’ve left that to the Americans and Guantanamo.
You’re not a very bright guy, Mike. Do you honestly think NK would have been any nicer to a European nation? Japan? Who do you represent? Get with the program, you idiot.
Heck, lets send some more journalist to NK. Half of em needs to spend a little down time.
That said, anyone crazy/stupid (nothing brave about it) enough to sneak into a hostel country like NK is on their own. The US has very little leverage in getting you out.
If these women were stupid enough to let Gore talk them into this then 12 years won’t be long enough. The up-side would be for Gore to attempt a rescue and he end up with them.