The Big Pink @ El Rey Theatre 11/18/09
Box Office Review: American Teens Are Morons
They Might Be Giants @ Royce Hall 11/14/09
Gossip, Men @ the Henry Fonda Theater 10/26/09
Silversun Pickups @ Gibson Amphitheatre 11/03/09
Hundreds attended a vigil for Laura Ling and Euna Lee at Wokcano Cafe in Santa Monica, last Wednesday. (AP Photo/David Zentz)
It was March 17th when Current TV reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee were arrested for illegally entering North Korean territory while working on a story. Today, despite protests around the country, they were charged with 12 years of hard labor.
At a time when tensions between the U.S. and North Korea are tightly wound over missile tests, some were hoping their release would help ease those concerns. In a statement President Barack Obama said his administration was “engaged through all possible channels to secure their release."
Euna Lee, left, and Laura Ling, right (AP Photo/Yonhap, File)
For Ling, this is not good as she has an ulcer and Lee has a four-year-old daughter at home.
Last week, Oprah correspondent Lisa Ling held a vigil for her sister and Lee in Santa Monica. "When Laura comes home we are going to lock her up in her home; her brand new home that she and her husband had been saving for for twelve years -- that she has only spent three months in," she told KCET and the Huffington Post that night. "And just allow her to get reacclimated very slowly and just love her...deeply."
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Chilling.
waitwaitwait...
They were warned by the US (as the state department has a standing warning not to travel to NK), the Chinese, South Koreans and North Koreans not to enter the country, and they did so anyway. T
hey were working to expose humanitarian issues there, which is admirable. But did these two think just because they're journalists that they are somehow above the realities that the rest of us face? This wasn't a vacation, and I am sure they didn't have their passports stamped as I am fairly certain they entered NK without permission - sooo....
Something about going into a tiger pit and being surprised when the tiger bites you that doesn't inspire sympathy from me.
i agree with mobuli,
what happened to them is not something out of the ordinary, they should have been more cautious.
the situation stinks but hey, that's what happens when you sneak into a sketchy area.
Yes, they made a huge error in judgement. The punishment does not fit the crime though, that is the point everyone is making.
This is a failure of diplomacy on the part of N. Korea. If the situation were reversed, there is no way that a deal would not be made.
These women are N. Koreas political whipping boys to show off to the big bad USA. THAT is the truth of it.
it amazes how u who hve posted these comments think. yes, surely what they did was wrong, however, lets hope something like this does not happen to someone in your family. think of their loved ones, empathy people not sympathy
yes, you can say that both women knew what they were doing. They knew that N. Korea was not a good place but guess what, that's why they went there. They went to expose that women that had escaped the horrible country were being forced into sexual slavery. Because situations are tough, are we not to cover these stories? Are we not to show people that the country is starving to death because the government there is corrupt. Or that the citizens of N. Korea have no connection to the outside world, cell phones and internet are banned. If you escape or commit a crime, your whole family is sent to a concentration camp because it is believe that bad behavior is genetic. Were we not to reveal that millions died in the holocaust or Stalin had created gulags, which are now being used in N. Korea. The articles you read in the newspaper and online are stories uncovered by journalists. Under cover cops risk their lives daily, are we to not care about them? Yes, this is a sticky situation but how are we to just sit back and let them rot in a labor camp when we sent them in the first place? And N. Korea is the only one saying they crossed the border, we have no idea if they actually did or not. Did you know neighboring countries have border guards to stop N. Korea from kidnapping their citizens and using them as "prisoners of war"? Why do you automatically think N. Korea is correct in saying they crossed over?
We could spend this whole time arguing whether we think we should care if they are there or not but imagine if it was your mom or sister or wife, you would be concerned and would be pleading for them to come home.
I have empathy and sympathy for both families; but, they did cross the line. WHY DON'T ALL THESE REPORTERS STAY RIGHT HERE IN THE USA AND REPORT ALL OF THESE STORIES THEY SO WANT TO EXPLOIT ABOUT BATTERED, SEXUALLY ABUSED WOMEN AND STARVING CHILDREN. These stories should be told but why do we not start at home first? There are so many organizations that raise money to go different places to help~again, well and good but why not right here? All of the churches across the nation who send money and teenagers to other countries to help the poor and needy with a home, clothes, medicine....WHY CAN YOU NOT START RIGHT HERE??? Go to the Salvation Army, Cooperative Christian Ministry Locations and others like them and you will find millions starving, homeless, and out of work because they lost their job. I KNOW, I was one of them except I did manage to keep a home to live in. I had no money for food, doctors, medicine and no way to get any. You see, now I am injured and after 2 back surgeries I still can't walk. START AT HOME AND HELP OUR OWN AND THEN SOME OF THE REPORTERS LIKE THESE TWO DON'T GET THEMSELVES IN DANGER! GOD BLESS AMERICA~ START AT HOME WITH OUR OWN! Your own next door neighbor might really appreciate a pack of bologna and a loaf of bread since their children may have nothing but rice.