laura ling and euna lee on north korea and human trafficking in 'hostages in the hermit kingdom'
If you haven't already done so, take a minute to read Laura Ling and Euna Lee's op-ed 'Hostages in the Hermit Kingdom,' in it they discuss the situation in North Korea, human trafficking, and the real story they intended to bring to the world.
Laura and Euna were detained in North Korea on March 17th, 2009. After being held for 140 days, our Vanguard journalists returned home, and our community welcomed them back home. Laura and Euna responded to these warm wishes with a video:
Today, they've issued a statement on the events that transpired in an editorial titled, 'Hostages in the Hermit Kingdom.' In it, they describe the events leading up to their arrest in North Korea and some of the details from that morning on a frozen river separating China and North Korea.
Most importantly, Laura and Euna would like everyone to remain focused on the real story taking place in North Korea and China -- the story they set out to cover in the first place:
You can read the full Op-Ed piece on Current.com, but please let us know what you think in the comments below.
Laura and Euna were detained in North Korea on March 17th, 2009. After being held for 140 days, our Vanguard journalists returned home, and our community welcomed them back home. Laura and Euna responded to these warm wishes with a video:
Laura and Euna say 'thank you'
Today, they've issued a statement on the events that transpired in an editorial titled, 'Hostages in the Hermit Kingdom.' In it, they describe the events leading up to their arrest in North Korea and some of the details from that morning on a frozen river separating China and North Korea.
Feeling nervous about where we were, we quickly turned back toward China. Midway across the ice, we heard yelling. We looked back and saw two North Korean soldiers with rifles running toward us. Instinctively, we ran.
We were firmly back inside China when the soldiers apprehended us. Producer Mitch Koss and our guide were both able to outrun the border guards. We were not. We tried with all our might to cling to bushes, ground, anything that would keep us on Chinese soil, but we were no match for the determined soldiers. They violently dragged us back across the ice to North Korea and marched us to a nearby army base, where we were detained. Over the next 140 days, we were moved to Pyongyang, isolated from one another, repeatedly interrogated and eventually put on trial and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor.
Most importantly, Laura and Euna would like everyone to remain focused on the real story taking place in North Korea and China -- the story they set out to cover in the first place:
We know that people would like to hear more about our experience in captivity. But what we have shared here is all we are prepared to talk about -- the psychological wounds of imprisonment are slow to heal. Instead, we would rather redirect this interest to the story we went to report on, a story about despairing North Korean defectors who flee to China only to find themselves living a different kind of horror. We hope that now, more than ever, the plight of these people and of the aid groups helping them are not forgotten.
You can read the full Op-Ed piece on Current.com, but please let us know what you think in the comments below.
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