N. Korea detains two female American journalists

Posted on : 2009-03-20 09:44 KST Modified on : 2009-03-20 09:44 KST
The women, one of whom is Korean-American, were filming video near the Chinese-North Korean border along the Tumen River
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Two female American journalists have reportedly been detained by the North Korean military while reporting on North Koreans in China without permission from their government, in the area of the Chinese-North Korean border along the Tumen River.

A diplomatic source requesting anonymity said that three American journalists were reporting “in the part of the Sino-North Korean border along the Tumen,” but that two women among the three were seized by North Korean military operatives and that one managed to escape capture.

“One of the two female journalists captured is an American of Korean descent,” said the source, saying the incident occurred on Tuesday.

It has been learned that the women were detained after continuing to film video in the area despite attempts by North Korean personnel to stop them. Where exactly they were and what they were doing at the exact time of their capture, however, has not been officially confirmed.

The New York Times reported that the journalists being held are Korean-American Euna Lee and Chinese-American Laura Ling, both of Current TV, a cable television network created by former United States Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. The journalist who avoided capture is reportedly Mitch Koss, also with Current TV.

Rev. Chun Ki-won, head of the Durihana Mission, a Christian organization working with North Koreans in China, was reported by The New York Times as having said he received a telephone call from one of the journalists on March 14, at which time they told him they “completed what they went to China for, and that they completed their assignment,” adding that he had warned them against getting too close to the border.

Another high-level diplomatic source requesting anonymity said the “most urgent thing is figuring out exactly what happened.”

“The Americans are basically approaching this as a humanitarian matter, instead of something for bilateral political negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington,” the source said.

The governments of the United States and North Korea have yet to express any official position on the situation, but it has been learned that not long after Lee and Ling were detained, the U.S. government approached North Korea’s diplomatic mission to the United Nations in New York and demanded they be released. The situation has the potential to become a major issue between the two countries depending on how it is handled by Pyongyang.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]