I guess Sec. of State Hillary Clinton FAILED!
God help them. Seriously. What an unmitigated horror the North Korean concentration camp system is.
Never fear - Dear Leader will negotiate!
JUST POSTED A FEW MINUTES AGO
N. Korea Convicts 2 U.S. Journalists
12 Years In Labor Prison For Two Women For “Grave Crime”
American journalists Laura Ling, rigtht, and Euna Lee.
Vigils were held across the country for two U.S. journalists ahead of their trial in North Korea. If convicted they face up to 10 years in a labor camp. | Share/Embed
(AP) North Korea’s state news agency says the country’s top court has convicted two U.S. journalists and sentenced them to 12 years in labor prison.
The Korean Central News Agency says the Central Court tried American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee from June 4 to 8.
It said Monday the trial confirmed an unspecified “grave crime” against the nation, and of illegally crossing into North Korea.
The report says the court “sentenced each of them to 12 years of reform through labor.”
The journalists - working for former Vice President Al Gore’s California-based Current TV - were arrested March 17 as they were reporting about the trafficking of women. It’s unclear if they strayed into the North or were grabbed by aggressive border guards who crossed into China.
Although the Americans were accused of illegally entering North Korea and unspecified “hostile acts,” Pyongyong has yet to publicly announce the exact charges against them. South Korean legal experts have said a conviction for “hostility” or espionage could mean five to 10 years in a labor camp.
U.S. officials and others working for the reporters’ release have said they’ve received no information about the defendants and even lacked independent confirmation about whether the trial has started. The North has said the proceedings wouldn’t be open to foreign observers, including Swedish officials who act as Washington’s proxy in Pyongyang because the two countries do not have diplomatic ties.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday she was “incredibly concerned” about the plight of the two women. In working for their release, Clinton said she has spoken with foreign officials with influence in North Korea and explored the possibility of sending an envoy to the North, but suggested that no one would be sent during the trial
I think this is not a surprise. Have the N Koreans not done this in the past and then the discussions begin between State and the North Koreans..a bartering sort of thing for their release?
That’s a life sentence on NK.
I wonder if the NKs will close their camps... you know.. to restore their image to the world.
Laura Ling and Euna Lee were convicted and sentenced after the Central Court confirmed an unspecified “grave crime” against the nation.
Who do we have for whom they might want to swap?
Meanwhile, Barry and Shelley have date night in Paris.....
They are hostages ... plain and simple
It’s a death sentence for them.
Honestly, though, what the heck were Americans doing over in NK for ANY reason?
Did they really think that they were safe or somehow protected just because they were what they considered impartial journalists?
Idiots.
Can we trade them for Helen Thomas?
No Fear I guess.
ping
Where are all the left-wing groups at? They were up in arms when panties were on terrorists’ heads but now crickets are chirping.
According to Al Gore, the world will be ended in ten years.
Automatic 2 year reduction in sentence for these two journalists.
I wonder if the State Department has regrets about publicly stating they are considering putting NK back on the terror list? (Or did the WH make that statement--I forget)
I wonder how many tears OThuga will share.
Or, even their colleagues in the MSM, for that matter.
What WERE they thinking that they’d even go there?
Oh, right . . . MSM folks are lobotomized as a condition for employment. I forgot.
Perfect for Charlie. He won’t do anything about the Nukes so he’ll maybe use these two as a distraction...if he gets the memo on their incarceration and has the time to read it.