U.S. seeks amnesty for two American journalists held in North Korea
The United States seeks amnesty for the two American journalists held in North Korea. The United States seeks amnesty for the two American journalists held in North Korea on March 17 and was convicted for committing hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry. The United States has dropped its request that two American journalists imprisoned in North Korea be released on humanitarian grounds, and is seeking amnesty instead.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton asked North Korea’s government Friday to grant amnesty to two journalists from San Francisco’s Current TV imprisoned there, a move analysts say may open the diplomatic door for the journalists’ release.
Clinton added that “everyone is sorry” for what happened, while one of the journalists, Laura Ling, told a family member in a phone conversation this week that “we broke the law” when they entered North Korea. The diplomatic moves are similar to actions by the State Department to help win the freedom of U.S. journalist Roxana Saberi, who was sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran earlier this year for espionage.
“The two journalists and their families have expressed great remorse for this incident, and I think everyone is very sorry that it happened,” Clinton told a State Department briefing Friday.
Clinton’s overture Friday was spurred by a comment that Laura Ling’s sister, Lisa, made while promoting a Sacramento vigil this week in support of the journalists.
In a call from her sister this week, Laura Ling said, “You have to convey that we are guilty of what we’ve been charged with. We broke the law,” Lisa Ling told Sacramento TV station KOVR.
The two reporters — Laura Ling and Euna Lee — were sentenced in June to 12 years in prison after being found guilty of crossing the border illegally and committing “hostilities” against the nation. The two journalists were reporting a story on human trafficking near the North Korean border when they were captured. Ling has reported from Haiti, Vietnam, China and Turkey. This was Lee’s first international assignment.
