hankyoreh

in South Korea

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Monday that two women journalists from the U.S. who have been detained were sentenced to 12 years of “labor education” each. The KCNA revealed this in a “report,” while also saying that Laura Ling and Euna Lee’s trial took place June 4 to 8 in the Central Court of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The heavy sentencing of the two reporters contains both negative and positive aspects for the possibility of their release.

On the one hand, the sentencing sends a signal that is not entirely negative. Since the charges and sentence are clear and have been decided, this means conditions have also been provided to allow North Korea and the U.S. to begin negotiations in earnest for the two journalists’ early release. A high-ranking government official said Monday that while he did not know the specifics, his sense was that the sentencing seemed to be part of a process towards the release of the reporters.

On the other hand, the heavy sentence of 12 years of “labor education” each and the deteriorations in North Korea-U.S. relations suggest that negotiations for the journalists’ release can be expected to be difficult. A government official says North Korea will free the reporters, but it has played its “We will not free them easily” card.

Experts predict that　the U.S. will have to mobilize all its strength and will have to pass through many obstacles to secure an actual and early release of the reporters.

They suggest that the U.S.’s mostly likely first step should be to send a special envoy, however, the experts say the two countries could get into a tug-of-war over the status and rank of the envoy. Due to concerns about worsening public opinion about sending a currently-serving high-ranking U.S. official as an envoy that may appear as a form of official dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang at a time when the U.S. is seeking sanctions in response to North Korea’s recent nuclear test, the U.S. is reportedly considering sending former U.S. Vice President Al Gore in the capacity of a civilian envoy.

Meanwhile, experts suggest that North Korea, which is demanding a withdrawal of hostile U.S. policies, may require the U.S. to send a high-ranking serving figure as a special envoy in order use it as an opportunity to sit down and negotiate.

Observers also believe the envoy’s mission could become a point of contention between the U.S. and North Korea. The U.S. typically maintains a position of separating political disputes like the nuclear test issue from humanitarian ones, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s appearance on broadcaster ABC on Sunday stressed this very approach. North Korea, however, could attempt to link the two matters.

There are many hurdles to overcome in negotiations for the reporters’ release, but if North Korea does not take any further measures to aggravate the situation, experts say this could become a path towards dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea. As the sanction situation settles down, the U.S. and North Korea could use this issue about the two journalists as a means to discover one another’s intentions.

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