Journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling

Two journalists from the emmy award winning Current TV were detained Tuesday by North Korean soldiers after they ignored their orders to stop filming.  Laura Ling and Euna Lee are reporters for the San Francisco based media outlet and were planning a border trip to report on North Korean refugees.  The Yalu river they were headed towards is a ‘frequent crossing point for both trade and the growing number of North Koreans seeking to flee their country’ as reported by Kwang-Tae Kim. Ling’s sister, Lisa Ling, was a cohost on the View and currently does field reports for Oprah.  The last correspondence from Ling was a Twitter message stated that she was at the Seoul airport headed to the China/NKorea border and, ‘Hoping my Kimchee breath will ward off all danger.’  A third member of their team, the cameraman, was said to have escaped arrest at the last moment.

The situation is made difficult since the US has no direct relations with N Korea nor a embassy available. ‘Foreign journalists standing on the Chinese side of the border are often jeered at by North Korean border guards, some brandishing rifles just steps away.’  Our prayers are with the journalists making it back safely, as well as the hope that they return with valuable insight (keep that footage safe!) to shed light on the ongoing civil rights violations in North Korea.

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