Heartsick Journo Families Plead for Mercy

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»

(NEWSER) - Bill Clinton is in North Korea, where he will attempt to secure the freedom of two American journalists imprisoned since March, Reuters reports, citing South and North Korean news agencies. "As soon as he arrives, he will be entering negotiations," said a source. The White House and State Department declined comment. Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced in June to 12 years' hard labor. They work for Current TV, co-founded by Clinton's VP, Al Gore. More»

Survivors describe torture, starvation in 're-education' camps

(NEWSER) - The 12 years of hard labor facing Euna Lee and Laura Ling hardly seem like a weekend in county lockup, but yesterday's sentence is particularly brutal in North Korea, where prisoners routinely face torture and often death. The two journalists may be sent to a re-education reformatory, reports the Los Angeles Times. One North Korean defector who spent seven months in a prison estimated that nearly half of inmates died in custody. More»

(NEWSER) - Journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling did in fact cross into North Korea while reporting from the border, Ling's sister tells CNN. "She did say that they touched North Korean territory very, very briefly," she says. "She said it was maybe 30 seconds. And then, you know, everything just sort of got chaotic." Lisa Ling says her sister plans to share her "very powerful story" soon. More»

(NEWSER) - The same sprawling network of business and political contacts that caused trouble with Hillary Clinton's confirmation as secretary of state helped her husband secure the release of Euna Lee and Laura Ling, the Washington Post reports. Private donors paid for Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea, and the former president handpicked the team that came with him, which included his former chief of staff. More»