Laura Ling, Euna Lee : Current TV Journalists Taken By North Korean Military

Euana Lee left and Laura Ling, US journalists from current TV in North Korean imprisonment.


Laura Ling and Euana Lee current TV Photo.

American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee from Al Gore founded independent media company Current TV have been abducted by North Korean soldiers as they filmed from across the border in China.

According to reports Laura Ling and Euna Lee were asked to stop filming North Korean positions by soldiers, when they continued to shoot video, the soldiers crossed the border into China and arrested Ling, Kim.

Currently the United States and North Korean governments are negotiating the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, South Korean TV news said.

Talks are underway between officials in Washington DC and in Pyongyang, unnamed diplomatic sources said.

Rev. Chun Ki-won of the Seoul-based Doorihana Mission told The Associated Press Thursday that he was informed the three were arrested some time on Tuesday.

Laura Ling is a TV reporter for Current TV and Current.com while Euna Lee is belived to be her camera operator.

From Laura Ling's Current.com web page:

Is the media broken? I’m rarely inspired by what I see in the media.

Television is supposed to be the most powerful medium—but TV news seems to be anything but powerful. Vanguard is trying to change that.

We’re trying to provide knowledge and context about what’s happening in our world as opposed to just covering random news events. We hope our work generates dialogue about the important issues affecting our lives.

I’d love to hear your feedback about what we’re doing and how we can be doing things better. Is the media broken? I’m rarely inspired by what I see in the media.

Television is supposed to be the most powerful medium—but TV news seems to be anything but powerful. Vanguard is trying to change that.

We’re trying to provide knowledge and context about what’s happening in our world as opposed to just covering random news events. We hope our work generates dialogue about the important issues affecting our lives. I’d love to hear your feedback about...

Video of a recent Current TV report by Laura Ling:






UPDATE: Various news agencies say Laura Ling and Euna Lee, under imprisonment by North Korea since March 17 will be put on trail, "on the basis of the confirmed crimes committed by them," the official North Korean news agency said.

The Korean Central News Agency, an official Pyongyang news agency, said that a "competent organ of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea's official title) had concluded the investigation into the journalists of the United States."

Analysts say Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were filming for a story about North Korean refugees risking their lives to flood into China, will be used as bargaining chips for talks over the now nuclear armed North Korea.