The Chinese cameraman refused to go along. The two "journalists" thought they could make a foray and get back to the Chinese side before they were spotted. They greatly underestimated the paranoia of the N Koreans and were arrested in the nuetral zone and their notes of the interviews were used in evidence against them. I am seeing a pattern here, the woman who was charged with spying on Iran -- why is it these people don't seem to understand that when they leave the U.S. borders, they LEAVE the U.S., things don't operate there as they do here?
Honestly, they think they are protected by the cult of celebrity and beauty.
In Laura Ling's case, she was trying to one-up the expose' her sister Lisa Ling did on National Geographic on N Korea.