North Korea

New York, June 8, 2009--International pressure from all countries involved in the Six Party Talks should be leveraged to ensure the release of U.S. journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling after a North Korean court sentenced them today to 12 years hard labor, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. The countries in the talks are North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States.

I've been staying up nights waiting for news on journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who are detained and facing trial in North Korea. The government in Pyongyang, through its official Korean Central News Agency, posted this terse item on Thursday: "The Central Court of the DPRK will start a trial of American journalists Laura Ling and Seung-eun Lee from 3 p.m. Thursday on the basis of the indictment already brought against them." (Seung-eun is Euna's name in Korean.) The people I've been in touch with in Seoul--journalists working for Western news agencies, Korean journalists, and one government contact--don't know much more. 

Forty members of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) have signed on to a letter calling on the international community to press for the release of journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling

New York, June 3, 2009--On the eve of the June 4 criminal trial date for U.S. television journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling in North Korea, the Committee to Protect Journalists calls for all countries involved in the Six Party Talks to work together to ensure their freedom. The countries in the talks are North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States.

New York, June 1, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on all parties to pursue diplomatic efforts to gain the release of detained U.S. journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who are facing trial in North Korea this week. The families of the two journalists spoke out this morning on U.S. television to urge diplomatic talks to resolve the detentions independent of the larger geopolitical issues on the Korean Peninsula.

We released a statement today after the families of two U.S. journalists being held in North Korea spoke publicly for the first time. The families of Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee appeared on NBC's "Today" show this morning. Our statement follows:

With a June 4 criminal trial date looming for what North Korea calls "hostile acts," the families of Euna Lee and Laura Ling have decided to speak out about the two journalists' detention in Pyongyang. The two women have been held since March 17. In a Facebook announcement, the families told supporters: "Our families have been very quiet because of the extreme sensitivity of the situation, but given the fact that our girls are in the midst of a global nuclear stand-off, we cannot wait any longer."

In response to a North Korean statement that American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling of U.S. media outlet Current TV, arrested on March 17 along the border with China, will be put on trial on June 4, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued this statement...

"Information is power, which is
precisely why many governments attempt to control the press to suppress
opposition and preempt dissent," said U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, the California
Democrat who three years ago founded the Congressional Caucus for Freedom of
the Press. "Far too often, the reporters and editors who demand reform,
accountability, and transparency find themselves at risk," he went on. "The
censorship, intimidation, imprisonment, and murder of these journalists are not
only crimes against these individuals, but they also impact those who are
denied access to their ideas and information."

New York, April 24, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed concern today after North Korea announced that it would try American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee on unspecified criminal charges, according to international news reports.