NKorea Says 2 U.S Journalists face trial

[Voice_of_Reason]

SEOUL, South Korea – Two American journalists detained at North Korea's border with China two weeks ago will be indicted and tried, "their suspected hostile acts" already confirmed, Pyongyang's state-run news agency said Tuesday.
The Korean Central News Agency report did not say when a trial might take place, but said preparations to indict the Americans were under way as the investigation continues.
"The illegal entry of U.S. reporters into the DPRK and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements," the report said, referring to the country by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The report did not elaborate on what "hostile acts" the journalists allegedly committed.
Euna Lee and Laura Ling, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore's San Francisco-based Current TV media venture, were detained by North Korean border guards March 17.
Telephones were not answered at Current TV Monday afternoon and there was no response to messages. Ling's sister, Lisa Ling, a correspondent for National Geographic Channel's "Explorer," has declined to comment.
North Korea confirmed in a brief March 21 dispatch on KCNA that two Americans had been detained and were being investigated for "illegally intruding" from China.
A report in South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper March 22 said the two were undergoing "intense interrogation" at a military guesthouse in Pyongyang's outskirts for illegal entry and alleged espionage.
Conviction on charges of spying and illegally crossing the border could draw more than 20 years in prison for each under North Korea's criminal code.
Their Korean-Chinese guide and a third American, Current TV cameraman Mitch Koss, reportedly escaped arrest but were detained by Chinese border guards. Koss since has left the country, China's Foreign Ministry said last Tuesday.
An activist who helped the team plan their trip to China, the Rev. Chun Ki-won, said the three were on a reporting trip to interview North Korean defectors living in border areas at the time. He said he last spoke to Lee by phone early March 17 when they were near the Tumen River, which divides the two countries.
The detentions come at a time of mounting tensions in the region as North Korea prepares to launch a rocket over the objections of its neighbors.
Pyongyang has declared it will send a satellite into space sometime between April 4 and 8, but the U.S. and other nations suspect the launch will be a test of the country's long-range missile technology.
The U.S., South Korea and Japan have warned Pyongyang it risks sanctions by carrying out a launch prohibited under a U.N. Security Council resolution that bans the North from ballistic activity.
KCNA said Tuesday that consular officials will be allowed contact with the detained reporters during the investigation. The suspects will be treated "according to the relevant international laws," it said.
Washington, which does not have diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, relies on the Swedish Embassy in the North Korean capital to represent the U.S.
A Swedish diplomat met with the journalists individually over the weekend, State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said in Washington. Duguid provided no other details Monday about the journalists or the weekend visit, citing privacy concerns.
In Stockholm, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Cecilia Julin confirmed that the meetings took place but declined to provide any details.
Past detentions of Americans have required international intervention. In 1996, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, then a congressman, went to North Korea to help secure the release of an American detained for three months on spying charges. In 1994, he helped arrange the freedom of a U.S. soldier whose helicopter strayed into North Korea.
North Korean authorities also have custody of a South Korean citizen who works in the two Koreas' joint economic zone in Kaesong, just across the heavily militarized border, Seoul's Unification Ministry said Monday.
The man is accused of breaking North Korean law by denouncing Pyongyang's political system and inciting North Korean workers to flee the communist country, ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said. North Korea has assured Seoul his safety during an investigation, she said.


Original Post: Here (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090330/ap_on_re_as/as_nkorea_journalists_held)

Take that journalists don't fuck with North Korea!

[scarletghoul]

Looks like they've got a couple new bargaining chips

[Voice_of_Reason]

Looks like they've got a couple new bargaining chips

I doubt that, it seems to me they are intent on trying them for their crimes.

[SocialRealist]

I hope they free the journalists, this isn't right at all. They were simply helping to report on the current situation in this area when they were picked up by the North Korean's. All I can say is that if they decide to execute these journalists I would kindly support a UN type action against North Korea.

[Coggeh]

I hope they free the journalists, this isn't right at all. They were simply helping to report on the current situation in this area when they were picked up by the North Korean's. All I can say is that if they decide to execute these journalists I would kindly support a UN type action against North Korea.
Would you support another bomb attack on America considering the amount of prisoners America have taken and tortured from Afghanistan/Iraq ?

Collective punishment is a war crime . You can't block the flow of food ,medicine etc because the government decide to execute a foreign person . (though that doesn't stop them ) for example Cuba .

[SocialRealist]

Would you support another bomb attack on America considering the amount of prisoners America have taken and tortured from Afghanistan/Iraq ?

Collective punishment is a war crime . You can't block the flow of food ,medicine etc because the government decide to execute a foreign person . (though that doesn't stop them ) for example Cuba .

Against a civillan infrastructure? No.

What should happen is that if they decide to do this, there needs to be a support of militancy in North Korea.

[Coggeh]

Against a civillan infrastructure? No.

What should happen is that if they decide to do this, there needs to be a support of militancy in North Korea.
What you mean support of militancy ? outside militancy ?

[SocialRealist]

What you mean support of militancy ? outside militancy ?
Groups willing to fight against the North Korean government that seek to overthrow North Korean government. If they decide to execute these journalists/launch the rocket they plan on launching it is an act of war against several countries.

[Voice_of_Reason]

If they decide to execute these journalists/launch the rocket they plan on launching it is an act of war against several countries. No one said anything about execution and even if they do they were in their territory so their land their laws that's not an act of war.


Socialist-Republican

Hmm... do I sense Irony.

[SocialRealist]

No one said anything about execution and even if they do they were in their territory so their land their laws that's not an act of war.
What do you think North Korea is going to do to these journalists? They are going to execute them, I see the headlines on the news coming. Killing journalists is not correct and is an act of war!

Free the journalists. Im sick of this double standard when it comes to this too, if they were non-American affiliated you would simply be wanting them to be freed.

[Revy]

Disgusting.

[Coggeh]

What do you think North Korea is going to do to these journalists? They are going to execute them, I see the headlines on the news coming. Killing journalists is not correct and is an act of war!

Free the journalists. Im sick of this double standard when it comes to this too, if they were non-American affiliated you would simply be wanting them to be freed.
How could you oppose the iraq war (im making assumptions) and promote one against north Korea ? if they do execute the journalists .

[Voice_of_Reason]

What do you think North Korea is going to do to these journalists? They are going to execute them, I see the headlines on the news coming. Killing journalists is not correct and is an act of war!

Free the journalists. Im sick of this double standard when it comes to this too, if they were non-American affiliated you would simply be wanting them to be freed.

What the fuck are you talking about how does them being American make me want to free them less I'm a damn American, but if they committed these supposed "hostile attacks" it's Korea's call not Americas. I still doubt they will be executed.

[NecroCommie]

Whereas I would like to see N-Korea pegged down a step or two, I still doubt the journalist had any more noble intentions with their work. Two evils at work here.

[Das war einmal]

The journalists illegally crossed the NK border even after warnings that this was a very dangerous act, so they are totally to blame for this act themselves.

[Das war einmal]

What do you think North Korea is going to do to these journalists? They are going to execute them.

I honestly doubt that, I think they are being held prison and be used as a bargaining product

[rednordman]

The journalists illegally crossed the NK border even after warnings that this was a very dangerous act, so they are totally to blame for this act themselves.The sad truth, but I wouldnt say that out of this forum though. This could have happened elsewhere too but I think that the USA are looking at NK as a next target. Also I totally agree with NecroCommie, that these journalists probably wanted to create more stuff that makes the world hate an already poor and suffering nation even more so. And lets not forget what would be in it for the journalists for such a report. They have probably seen how easy if has been to slander the country recently and thought they should have a piece of the action as well.
For the most part, it wish that this did not happen. For both sides. As much as I am beginning to dislike alot of the media, for this kind of thing to happen is never a good thing, and it WILL make NK look very bad. And attacked by the sounds of it, which i would not support. Their people have suffered enough.
But at the end of the day, when you go to dangerous countries looking for material that will make the country look bad, you have to think of the consequences if it goes wrong first.

[manic expression]

What do you think North Korea is going to do to these journalists? They are going to execute them, I see the headlines on the news coming. Killing journalists is not correct and is an act of war!

Executing journalists is not an act of war, as journalists are subject to the laws of the country in which they work.

Also, it's unreasonable to flatly assume that they will be executed, because if you read the article, it cites multiple examples of detained American nationals being freed. Let's at least analyze the situation rationally instead of jumping to stereotyped conclusions.


Free the journalists. Im sick of this double standard when it comes to this too, if they were non-American affiliated you would simply be wanting them to be freed.

Their affiliation is very much relevant. The forces of imperialism are doing their utmost to challenge and violate the sovereignty of North Korea, and this situation is directly related to their efforts. The people of North Korea have the right to tell aggressive powers who can and can't enter their country. The two journalists in question work for Al Gore's personal media outfit, which should at least generate some question marks.

Lastly, your hypothesis that non-capitalist journalists wouldn't get sympathy from socialists is true, but only because non-capitalist journalists probably wouldn't try to enter North Korea illegally in order to help beat American war drums.

[Lenin II]

I really could give a damn about reactionary bourgeois stooge journalists being executed. Hell, I look forward to the day when Wolf Blizter and Bill O'Reilly are put up against a wall.

To oppose the death penalty for counterrevolutionaries is to be against revolution. I may not think of the DPRK as orthodox Marxist-Leninist but they are close enough for me.

[Invader Zim]

The journalists illegally crossed the NK border even after warnings that this was a very dangerous act, so they are totally to blame for this act themselves.

They are to blame should they be executed? Their foolishness for crossing a order means it is their fault if they get executed? That sounds very like the logic of a rapist blaming the victim for crossing 'x' line.

[Yazman]

This is going to be such a fucking sham. I can't see them getting anything but a show trial, to be honest.

[Das war einmal]

They are to blame should they be executed? Their foolishness for crossing a order means it is their fault if they get executed? That sounds very like the logic of a rapist blaming the victim for crossing 'x' line.

:blink: A bit of a bizarre comparison. Rape is illegal in nearly every country. I take it that the arrested journalist were aware of the dire consequences. It sounds like this was almost deliberately undertaking. I don't agree with the death penalty but if I would go storm the US embassy here in my own country with no weapons at all and I would be killed in action than everyone would agree that this was a very dumb and ignorant action.

[Josef Balin]

Hmm... do I sense Irony.
What irony? Are you an idiot?

[Wanted Man]

They are to blame should they be executed? Their foolishness for crossing a order means it is their fault if they get executed? That sounds very like the logic of a rapist blaming the victim for crossing 'x' line.
It's more comparable to a convicted rapist sneaking around in the garden of one of his victims, and then complaining that his civil liberties are being restricted when said victim comes out of the house to kick him in the nuts.

Stupid comparison? You bet.

[Comrade_XRD]

I'm sick of NK doing this ultra-secret hide ourselves from the world shit. They're just afraid that once they let people in, they'll see what really is going on there. As an M-L communist, I can't consider Kim-Jong-Il a true M-L. His insane cult of personality and domineering totalitarian state seems to swing to the right. It's people like him that make communists look bad. Whenever I think about NK, the book Animal Farm comes to mind. The poor people were led into false hopes of freedom and prosperity, and the great leader tricked them and raped all of their rights. Now they live in desperate poverty and survive on eating the grass on the ground. They work all day, every day, in miserable factories listening to music that commemorates the great leader. They force smiles upon their faces, even though they know they will return home to no food, no proper shelter, and no hope. Their children go to schools that feed them nothing but fables about "comrade Kim Jong-Il" and the wonderful things he's done throughout his lifetime. The people are uneducated, starving, and enslaved. But somewhere, the great leader is sitting back with the enemy fascists and sharing some expensive champaign. :(

[Comrade_XRD]

Did DPRK isolate itself or was it forced into isolation? Let's base ourselves on facts. Of course everyone was a bit hostile to them, b/c of their claimed communistic ideologies when they were in their early stages, but that doesn't change their present day situation. They are deliberately suppressing any sort of insight into their nation that isn't propaganda made by their leader. This also prevents NKs citizens from obtaining any knowledge of the outside world. Thus making it easy for someone like Kim Jong-Il to effectively control a large mass of people who otherwise don't know any better. His policy of keeping everyone in and all others out, is a dangerous force to be reckoned with. Nobody knows what the bloody hell is going on in there. All we know can be gleaned from the small population of defectors who escaped into China or South Korea.

[Lenin II]

totalitarian :(

I stopped reading after I saw this meaningless buzzword.

[Revy]

North Korea wants to isolate itself from the world, so nobody can get in or get out. These journalists were arrested for crossing a border, which they probably did not even notice.

And now we have "leftists" defending the idea that crossing a border is tantamount to espionage.

DId someone say irony already? Thanks.

[STJ]

They crossed a border hows that espionage?

[Jorge Miguel]

North Korea wants to isolate itself from the world, so nobody can get in or get out.There are hundreds of DPRK citizens studying abroad and many more living abroad, particularly in western Russia and around Dandong in China. The DPRK even sends children to Spain for mathmetical competitions, etc. To suggest that no one leaves the country is just a lie with no basis whatsoever.

I've met a few DPRK citizens in London and have spoke to a few by email and phone, including emails to Pyongyang. There are telephone numbers available for several places in Pyonyang and the DPRK online, I was able to call the Foreign Languages Publishing House and speak to someone in English last summer. DPRK citizens aren't the isolated drones that they are portrayed as, quite the opposite.

Regarding no one "getting in". Check the Air China website, they are selling flights to Pyongyang.


These journalists were arrested for crossing a border, which they probably did not even notice.
The border between the DPRK and China is marked by the Yalu river. To cross the Yalu river, I would imagine some sort of conciousness would be required to avoid drowning.

As I say, there are protocols for journalists entering the DPRK, they weren't adhered to. Any country which discovers people entering illegally punishes them, evenmoreso in a country such as the DPRK which at the minute is under pressure from the Americans.


And now we have "leftists" defending the idea that crossing a border is tantamount to espionage.
The DPRK has the singlemost honour of inflicting the first great defect on Yankqui global hegemony, they don't need to be lectured by first world chauvinists.

[Jorge Miguel]

The people are uneducated, starving, and enslaved.
The slanty-eyed fuckers need some liberating the Good Ol' American way.

http://thestockmasters.com/images/mcdonalds-fat.jpg

[STJ]

The slanty-eyed fuckers need some liberating the Good Ol' American way.

http://thestockmasters.com/images/mcdonalds-fat.jpg

Dear god!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Revy]

"Any country which discovers people entering illegally punishes them"

So borders matter more than people?

By the way, the border between Mexico and the U.S. is also marked by a river.

Do you agree with how the US treats undocumented immigrants? I don't.

[Patchd]

No one said anything about execution and even if they do they were in their territory so their land their laws that's not an act of war.

No, it's not "their territory", we should be breaking down borders and barriers not putting up even stricter ones. No one piece of land belongs to anyone, "the workers have no country" ... ring a bell? Lands and laws as well, the people in North Korea are not meant to be serving the state, surely the state should be serving the people, if you must repress information and thought to that extent then you are doing something wrong. If your state is willing to use force against other people in order to preserve itself, it is willing to use force against you to do the same.

[Jorge Miguel]

"Any country which discovers people entering illegally punishes them"

So borders matter more than people?

By the way, the border between Mexico and the U.S. is also marked by a river.

Do you agree with how the US treats undocumented immigrants? I don't.
What does this have to do with my post? The fact is that the DPRK is not the aggressor. To say they crossed the Yalu river, assuming they did, by accident is some sort of apologist joke.