North Korea Seizes US Reporters

Laura Ling and Euna Lee describe their capture ordeal

(NEWSER) - The two American journalists detained for months in North Korea were on Chinese soil when they were seized by border guards, they write in Current.com. Laura Ling and Euna Lee say they were reporting on the human trafficking of North Korean refugees in China when their guide briefly brought them across a frozen river onto North Korean soil. They turned back across the ice and returned to the Chinese side, but were pursued by armed guards who hauled them back over the river. More»

TV reporters will be charged with illegal entry: Pyongyang

(AP) - North Korea's state-run news agency says two American reporters detained earlier this month will be tried for illegal entry and "hostile acts." The Korean Central News Agency said in a report today that an initial investigation confirmed suspicions about the two women and preparations for indictments and trial are under way. More»

(NEWSER) - North Korea today confirmed it is detaining two American journalists on charges of “illegally intruding” into the communist nation, the New York Times reports. The reporters, both from Al Gore’s Current TV station, were reporting along the river border between China and Korea when they were apprehended. “A competent organ is now investigating the case,” said the North’s official news agency. More»

Beijing is suddenly worried about environmental damage

(NEWSER) - Someone get Alanis Morissette on the phone: China is suddenly hot and bothered about the environment. Yes, Beijing is urging annoying little brother North Korea not to go through with its third nuclear test , because it's worried about damaging the Changbai Mountain region, particularly radiation that might leak out, sources tell Reuters . "China is unhappy," one source says. "The impact on China's northeast would be huge." More»

Calls on China for help against Syria, Sudan

(NEWSER) - It's not too late for North Korea's new leadership to mend its ways, Hillary Clinton says. "If they focus on honoring their commitments and rejoining the international community, and on feeding and educating their citizens, the United States will welcome them and work with them," the secretary of state said as her meetings in Beijing drew to a close. She also discussed China's relationship with the US—the two "are now thoroughly and inescapably interdependent"—and how that could be brought to bear on Iran, Syria, and Sudan. More»