- North Korea has convicted American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee of crimes against the nation. They have been sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp. — Washington Post
- The Supreme Court declines to take up a case challenging the Army's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. — Fox News
- Conservative parties across Europe are claiming victory in the latest EU Parliament elections. — Voice of America
- Brazil's military is recovering bodies from last week's Air France crash off the coast of South America. — CNN
- Susan Boyle has hired U2's manager. — New York Post
Alessi
Just Cavalli
StyleBop
lisa ling is not going to be happy
1Aside from the sentencing, I'm curious to know what happened that led the journalists to be detained. I'm not presuming their innocence or guilt. I just want to know what happened.
Lisa Ling. Don't get me started on that woman.
2One expert on ABC news is concerned about the speculations the U.S. media is making towards North Korea's "plans" for the two women. http://www.newsy.com/videos/12_years_hard_labor_for_u_s_journalists At first, I didn't even think about it, but our assumptions could aggravate North Korea and cause a worse situation for the two journalists.
3Uh-oh. What could they do to deserve 12 yrs???
4Being a foreigner in or around North Korea seems to be enough, Genesis!
I had heard before that they were filming a story of some kind for Current TV, and illegally sneaked into NKorea for some of it [that's been debated, it's possible that North Korean border guards actually overstepped their borders into China to capture them]. Obviously North Korea not going to be happy about journalists running around filming how poor people actually are or that some people might be upset with their government. They were charged with committing "hostile acts", and convicted of committing "grave crimes" - with no specification.
I saw this on the HuffPo, it seems to have most of what I've been hearing about the case: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/08/laura-ling-euna-lee-us-jo_n_212...
5*ETA: I'm not sure what they were filming about, but I don't think it was something that would have made North Korea look good.
6i don't know if they did or did not enter illegally. what i do know is that i saw some interview with a guy that was their korean advisor or something telling/pleading with them not to go near or around where they were captured and that it was far too dangerous. if it were me, i personally would have listened to the guy since he lives there and all. they purposefully ignored the warnings.
i feel bad for them and do think the sentence was too harsh but they knew the consequences. i sympathize more with their families. korea obviously isn't the U.S. and does not have the same justice system, "innocent until proven guilty" or that allegations must be backed up with fact. north korea is very unstable and very paranoid, which they clearly knew as they were journalists. it's not like they were tourists accidentally stumbled into unsafe territory.
i guess i don't understand what all the hubbub is about. they knew what they were getting into, they knew the risk yet still ignored warnings. it's hard for me to feel too bad when it seems they brought this on themselves.
maybe i'm missing a huge chunk of the story...
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