Ling and Lee went to the China-North Korea border to document the plight of North Korean defectors. But activists in South Korea have criticized the journalists for putting both themselves and the defectors at risk by recklessly venturing too close to North Korea. In their statement, however, the journalists hint that their guide, an unnamed Chinese man, may have led them into a trap. They say they were never intending to leave China, but that the guide beckoned them across a river into North Korean territory, and they followed. They also say he made "deep, low hooting sounds," which they initially thought were signals to North Korean guards he knew who might help them.

But when Ling and Lee reached North Korean territory, they saw guards running toward them with rifles. They fled back to the Chinese side, but the guards captured them on Chinese soil and dragged them back into North Korea. It's not clear whether the guide — now in a Chinese prison — was working with the North Korean government to capture the journalists. Whatever the case, despite the guide's odd behavior (in addition to the hooting, he changed the starting point for their river crossing several times and put on a Chinese police coat before the crossing), Ling and Lee emphasize that "it was ultimately our decision to follow him."

Whether or not the guard had it in for them, it's obvious that the journalists' jailhouse "confession" (to "criminal acts ... prompted by the political motive to isolate and stifle the socialist system of the DPRK by faking up moving images aimed at falsifying its human rights performance and hurling slanders and calumnies at it") was as fake as it sounded. If they ever did confess, it was probably a calculated move to help secure their release, and they essentially repudiate the confession here:

The outcome of our three-day trial was never in doubt. In the end, we were convicted and sentenced to two years for trespassing and 10 years for "hostile acts." What did we do that was hostile? We tried to tell the story of repression and desperation in North Korea. It's not surprising, given the North Korean government's desire to silence any form of dissent, that the more extreme portion of the sentence was issued not for trespassing but for our work as journalists. Totalitarian regimes the world over are terrified of exposure.

Aid workers are concerned about video footage of defectors that North Korea may have obtained from Ling, Lee, and their producer. And Ling and Lee acknowledge that their capture may have led to a crackdown on border activity by both North Korea and China. Still, they are hopeful that their story will draw more international attention and aid to "despairing North Korean defectors who flee to China only to find themselves living a different kind of horror." And in the video below, they express gratitude to all those who supported them during their imprisonment.

Hostages Of The Hermit Kingdom [LA Times]
U.S. Journalists Say North Koreans Captured Them On Chinese Soil [Wall Street Journal]
Reporters Recount Arrest By North Korea [NYT]
Thank You From Laura And Euna [Current TV]

But after all the criticism of Hillary Clinton's laugh last year, it's just so nice to hear her having a good chuckle at the Republicans' expense — so much so that we could listen to her laugh at their posturing over and over again. It's much more melodic than Nelson on The Simpsons, and yet equally satisfying.

Hillary Clinton Erupts In Laughter At The Mention Of ‘John Bolton.' [ThinkProgress]
John Bolton: Bill Clinton's Release of Euna Lee and Laura Ling Puts Americans at Risk [Politics Daily]

[Burbank, August 5. Image via Getty]

BURBANK, CA - AUGUST 05: (L-R) Journalist Lisa Ling smiles as she talks with sister/journalist Laura Ling who along with Euna Lee arrived at Hangar 25 on August 5, 2009 in Burbank, California after being released by North Korean authorities yesterday. Ling and Lee, of San Francisco based Current TV, were both arrested by North Korea in March for illegally entering the country on the Chinese border. Yesterday they were pardoned by President Kim Jong-Il after a meeting with former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Ling and Lee had been sentenced to 12 years in prison in June. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images for Shangri-La)

North Korea had apparently specifically requested Bill Clinton as an envoy after rejecting Ling and Lee's employer at Current TV, Al Gore. According to a senior Obama administration official, Clinton did not offer Kim Jong Il an apology, nor did he discuss issues other than the journalists' release, such as nuclear disarmament. That didn't stop Bush's ambassador to the UN John Bolton from sniping, "Despite decades of bipartisan U.S. rhetoric about not negotiating with terrorists for the release of hostages, it seems that the Obama administration not only chose to negotiate, but to send a former president to do so. " He went on,

The point to be made on the Clinton visit is that the knee-jerk impulse for negotiations above all inevitably brings more costs than its advocates foresee. Negotiating from a position of strength, where the benefits to American interests will exceed the costs, is one thing. Negotiating merely for the sake of it, in the face of palpable recent failures, is something else indeed.

Clinton seemed to be negotiating for the release of two women, not "merely for the sake of it," but clearly Bolton knows better. We're not sure what this anti-diplomacy diplomat's preferred response to North Korea was — possibly nuking them?

Also on hand to direct attention away from the enormous relief of Ling and Lee's families and friends are various speculations on how Bill Clinton's trip affects Hillary. Mark Landler and Peter Baker of the Times write,

Mr. Clinton's mission may be less of an issue for Mr. Obama than for Mrs. Clinton. The same day he landed in North Korea, she arrived in Kenya, kicking off an 11-day journey through Africa - a visit now largely eclipsed by her husband's travels.

Of course, Clinton's visit is probably a bigger issue for Laura Ling and Euna Lee than for Obama or Hillary Clinton, by Calvin Woodward of the AP also wants to treat this as a story of clashing political celebrities. He writes,

Bill Clinton's North Korean negotiations cast fresh light on a Byzantine, mysterious power that Americans may never fully understand.

The Clintons.

He adds that "the history of Bill and Hillary Clinton - their partnership, their marriage, their way of one stepping forward while the other steps back - is lined with mazes worthy of the family franchise that rules in Pyongyang" and that "for the moment, he was the one stepping forward, overshadowing her, in familiar tag-team fashion." Despite his "overshadowing" language, Woodward sees the visit as a victory "for the tag team." Maureen Dowd seems to agree, saying "Hillary and President Obama look bigger when they share the stage with other talented players." However, she also can't resist a little nickname-tossing:

Maybe it was some clever North Korean revenge plot, giving the limelight to Daddy to punish Mommy. Just as Hillary muscled her way back into the spotlight, moving past her broken elbow and grabbing the focus from her bevy of peacock envoys, she was blown off the radar screen again by an even more powerful envoy: the one she lives with.

Hillary Clinton, for her part, expresses only happiness at being "blown off the screen" by the release of two prisoners after 4 1/2 arduous months. She says,

I'm very happy and relieved to have these two young women, on their way home to their families. I spoke to my husband on the airplane and everything went well; we are extremely excited they will be reunited. It was just a good day to be able to see this happen I'll have more to say to later, after they've landed.

Ling and Lee have now landed at the Burbank Airport and will reportedly give a press conference later today.

Updated: The press conference is below.

In Release Of Journalists, Both Clintons Had Key Roles [NYT]
Families, Gore Asked Clinton To Intervene [AP]
The Clinton Tag Team Is In Motion Once More [AP]
Let The Big Dog Run [NYT]
North Korea Asked For Bill Clinton [WSJ]
Clinton's Unwise Trip To North Korea [Washington Post]

Clinton's visit is a surprise, and Clinton is the highest-profile American to go to North Korea since Madeline Albright's trip in 2000 (Jimmy Carter went in 1994). The Obama administration reportedly considered a number of other possible envoys, including John Kerry. The choice is especially surprising given that Hillary Clinton has been so deeply involved in efforts to free Ling and Lee. However, she has recently been trading insults with North Korean officials, comparing them to "small children and unruly teenagers." The North Korean Foreign Ministry in turn called her a "funny lady" who "is by no means intelligent." Bill Clinton, on the other hand, maybe popular in North Korea because US-North Korean relations were at their best during his administration.

Researcher and ex-North Korean official Jang Cheol-hyeon says Clinton "can surely bring the two journalists back home." Victor Cha, a former Bush advisor on North Korea, concurs, saying, "it would be very difficult for the North not to give these people up" to Clinton. Scott Snyder of the Asia Foundation, however, has concerns. He tells the LA Times, "The question is going to be how could he go to Pyongyang without some assurance that they would be released. For someone at his level to go without a prior assurance of some kind would be to risk a huge loss of face." But analyst Mike Chinoy thinks this is actually evidence that Clinton is confident about the journalists' release. He says, "I suspect that it was made pretty clear in advance that Bill Clinton would be able to return with these two women otherwise it would be a terrible loss of face for him."

Experts are debating the larger diplomatic implications of the visit as well. Obama administration officials say Clinton will try to avoid linking the issue of Ling and Lee to North Korea's nuclear program, and that they aren't willing to offer the North incentives to return to six-party diplomatic talks. But South Korean professor Kim Yong-hyun says of Clinton's visit, "I think it's not just about journalists. It will serve as a turning point in the US-North Korea relations." Senator Lindsay Graham agrees, saying, "Maybe we can build on this to do something better with nuclear weapons. ... I don't know if this is the beginning of something bigger." Jack Kim of Reuters reports that the former President's trip "allows the [North Korean] government to show to a domestic audience, facing deepening poverty, that the nuclear weapons program is making the outside world take it more seriously and the visit will be certain to be portrayed as tribute by the United States." And North Korea expert B.R. Myers says, "It sends all the wrong signals," such as that the United States will reward kidnapping with high-level attention.

However, at least one expert thinks Clinton's trip offers a valuable intelligence opportunity as well as a humanitarian one. Think tank president Ralph Cossa says Clinton will be able to gauge Kim Jong Il's reportedly failing health, and find out who is really running North Korea. He says,

For me, this is a stroke of genius on the part of the Obama administration. Kim Jong Il will have to meet with a former U.S. president. Given his ego and desire for attention, this is a photo opportunity he doesn't want to miss. If he doesn't meet with Clinton, we'll know he is on life support.

Reports: Bill Clinton Arrives In N. Korea [Washington Post]
Bill Clinton Arrives In North Korea [Guardian]
Bill Clinton Visits North Korea In Bid To Free Journalists [LA Times]
Bill Clinton In North Korea To Seek Release Of U.S. Reporters [NY Times]
Bill Clinton In N. Korea For Journalists [CNN]
Bill Clinton In North Korea To Win Reporters' Release [Reuters]
White House Mostly Mum On Clinton's NKorea Mission [AP]

While the case of Laura Ling and Euna Lee was everywhere earlier this summer, the news on the two U.S. reporters jailed in North Korea has slowed to a crawl in the past few weeks. This is due in part to the fact that little headway has been made in their release, but some believe that this is part of a larger strategy, one that may ultimately work in their favor.

As Politico points out, for the first few months, the U.S. approach to the dispute with North Korea was characterized by harsh, sweeping criticism of the country's nuclear ambitions and the jailing of the journalists, along with other vices. But recently Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has asked separately for the release of the two women, stating on Sunday that "We believe that this is on a separate track. This is an issue that should be resolved by the North Koreans granting amnesty and allowing these two young women to come home as quickly as possible."

This may be all part of a calculated move to keep the story alive, but not in the spotlight:

According to Steve Snyder, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, the change is a tacit acknowledgement that tough talk won't work to free the two women. "The statement by Secretary of State Clinton about amnesty gets us back into a position where it's plausible that the North Koreans could take a step to release them. It provides a type of opening that wasn't there in a previous stage."

However, some are extremely unhappy with Clinton's change in tactics. Reporters Without Borders has released a statement criticizing the State Department's handling of the situation. "The State Department has been extremely silent, and we've expected more from Secretary Clinton," said spokesperson Tala Dowlatshahi. T. Kumar, advocacy director of Amnesty International agrees, adding: "If there are no results, then you have to do something public. If there is no public pressure, then the tendency is for them to drop it."

Detained Journalists Get No Media Play [Politico]
These (Agonizing) Days [Huffington Post]

Ling says that in the phone call, her first communication with her sister in weeks, Laura "was very specific about the message that she was communicating, and she said, 'Look, we violated North Korean law and we need our government to help us. We are sorry about everything that has happened, but we need diplomacy.' " She also says it was hard to tell how Laura was doing, but she remains concerned for her sister's health and that of Euna Lee. Laura said in a previous conversation that "she won't survive if she is sent to a labor camp," perhaps because of an ulcer she believes has gotten worse since her imprisonment.

Lisa Ling is still hopeful that the US and North Korea can come to a diplomatic solution to the reporters' imprisonment. "Our countries don't talk," she says, "and perhaps this could be a reason." Supporters of the two women have started a website to advocate for their release, and vigils will be held tonight in Paris, Washington, San Francisco, Sacramento and Phoenix.

According to Gotham Chopra, Ling and Lee have lost one supporter — Michael Jackson, who heard about their plight and was especially upset to learn that Euna Lee was separated from her four-year-old daughter. Chopra says Jackson asked him, "Do you think that the leader of North Korea could be a fan of mine?" He hoped that, if Kim Jong Il enjoyed his music, he might be able to have some influence over the situation. The notion isn't totally far-fetched — Kim Jong Il is a noted pop culture junkie who even kidnapped celebrities to make movies for him. However, Chopra was unable to determine if the North Korean leader was a Jackson fan, and Jackson died before he could do anything. If Kim Jong Il in fact did like Jackson's music, Chopra asks him to release Ling and Lee "as a commemoration of possibly the greatest icon of our times." "Wouldn't it be staggering if one Kim Jong Il were to honor him," Chopra asks, "as a truly great humanitarian?"

Sister Hears From Journalist Held In N. Korea [CNN]
Laura Ling And Euna Lee: 113 Days [LA Observed]
Free Laura Ling And Euna Lee [Official Site]
Marcos Breton: Lisa Ling Waits Out This Story [Sacramento Bee]

Lisa Ling, also a journalist, has been referring to her sister and her friend Euna as "girls" in public statements for several weeks. She told the May 31 edition of People, "We desperately hope that at the conclusion of the June 4 trial, the government of North Korea will show clemency and allow the girls to return home to their families. [...] We would like to thank all of those individuals who are organizing to secure the release of the girls." But her use of the word has intensified in a PR blitz following new claims by the North Korean government that Ling and Lee have confessed to intentionally crossing into North Korea to record footage for a "smear campaign" against the country.

On this morning's Today show, Ling said, "it was obvious that the girls confessed to the charges that were levied against them [...] we now hope that the North Korean government will show compassion and allow the girls to come home." And on CNN last night, she called Ling and Lee "girls" at least six times. She reiterated that, "the girls have admitted to whatever charges were levied against them" adding, "we now hope that the North Korean government will just show compassion and leniency and let the girls come home." Asked if she had any message for Ling and Lee, she said,

I would just tell the girls to please stay strong, and know that we are trying to do everything we can, our government is trying to do everything they can, to try and bring them home, and just focus on the day when we can all be together again, is what I would say to the girls.

Laura Ling's cousin Angie Wang also called the two detained journalists "girls" on CBS this omrning, perhaps suggesting a family-wide rhetorical decision. It's possible that the family believe that referring to the journalists as "girls" rather than "women" will make them less threatening to the North Korean government, and perhaps more deserving of compassion and forgiveness. Repeatedly saying "girls" probably goes against much of Ling's journalistic training — in most of her professional TV appearances, the word "women" would be more appropriate — so her choice seems especially conscious.

All of Ling and Lee's supporters appear to be choosing their words extremely carefully to avoid offending the North Korean government and make a quick release more likely. North Korea's claims are bizarre — it says Ling and Lee have confessed to "criminal acts ... prompted by the political motive to isolate and stifle the socialist system of the DPRK by faking up moving images aimed at falsifying its human rights performance and hurling slanders and calumnies at it" — and any confession seems likely to have been obtained under duress if it was obtained at all. But the families of the journalists have studiously avoided criticizing North Korea or questioning the confession in any way. They merely reiterate that the "girls" are "sorry," and ask North Korea to relent and send them home.

It's interesting that supporters of Ling and Lee have this particular rhetorical tool at their disposal. If the detained journalists were men, no one could ask North Korea to release the "boys." Of course, it's not uncommon to refer to grown women as girls — we've certainly done it, particularly in pop culture stories. Still, the fact that women can still be infantilized well into their thirties, when they have families and established careers, is ordinarily an unfortunate one. In this case, however, if calling Laura Ling and Euna Lee "girls" helps get them home faster, we can't help but support it.

Thanks to video intern Joanna Farah for putting together the clip.

Jailed Journalist's Sister: Show Compassion [Today Show]
Video: Families Plead With North Korea [CNN]
Journalist's Family Speaks [CBS]
N. Korea: U.S. Journalists Were Creating 'Smear Campaign' [CNN]
Families Hold Out Hope For Journalists Detained In North Korea [ABC]

Former coworker Derrick Shore, who traveled with Ling to dangerous areas of São Paulo, says, "she had this way of making me feel calm." Another friend, Morgan Wandell, says of Ling, "for as long as I've known her, [she] has always had a global conscience and was interested in stories that were happening around the world." And a former employee, Dan Beckmann, adds, "I've never had a boss who was ever that worried that everyone working for her was happy." Beckmann also knew Lee, and says of her, "She's one of those people who's the unsung hero, makes sure the work gets done — she was working to help out the team when she went to China because she was the only person on the team who spoke Korean."

Though some have said that the women jeopardized themselves and put the United States in a bad position when they crossed into North Korea, their families say that if they did in fact cross the border, it was unintentional. "We don't know what really happened on March 17, but if they wandered across the border without permission, we apologize on their behalf and we are certain that they have also apologized," the families said in a statement.

Asked for her take on Ling and Lee's plight, Saberi, who was released from Iran in May after a four-month imprisonment for alleged spying, says,

I imagine they feel very wronged to have been detained and tried without their basic human rights being observed. They might also feel disoriented to be experiencing all this in a place whose laws and customs are foreign to those of the country in which they were raised. They likely see themselves as political pawns in a larger, complex game.

She has this advice for them as they await their release:

Try to turn the challenges you are facing into opportunities. Do not fear but love, have hope and courage, and stand up for what you believe in. No one can hurt your soul. You are not alone. You have a whole world of supporters who are rallying and praying for you.

Friends speak up for L.A. journalists held by N. Korea [LA Times]
Saberi to Lee and Ling: 'You are not alone' [CPJ, via Columbia Journalism Review]

Earlier: American Journalists Sentenced To 12 Years Hard Labor

Blaine Harden of the Washington Postwrites that up to 300,000 North Korean refugees currently live in China, and 80% of recent arrivals are women. Most of them leave North Korea not because of the oppressive regime, but because of hunger and poverty. In China, many wind up being sold to farmers as brides. As the wives of Chinese men, North Korean women usually have much better food and shelter than they did back home, and are protected from the Chinese police. However, since China refuses to recognize them as refugees, they have no legal status and may be deported if they offend their husbands. Any children they have frequently lack residency papers and thus have trouble attending school. Essentially, women who flee North Korea leave behind crushing famine for a "stateless limbo" in which they are forced into marriage and may be sent back home if they don't behave.

Those who are deported are considered criminals by the North Korean government, and often sent to labor camps. Bang Mi Sun, a former actress, was permanently disabled by a beating after Chinese police returned her to North Korea. Of her time in a labor camp, Bang (who subsequently escaped to South Korea) says,

I had to live the life of an animal. If I had a chance to meet with President Obama, I would first like to tell him how North Korean women are being sold like livestock in China and, second, to know that North Korean labor camps are hell on earth.

Experts have speculated that because Ling and Lee are American and "bargaining chips" for North Korea to gain concessions, they won't actually be sent to the infamous labor camps. Terrible as their ordeal is in itself, it may also bring attention to the horrors faced by thousands of other women. At least Ling and Lee have people fighting for them — hopefully, their efforts will bring them home. But women like Bang Mi Sun have no political power and no one to advocate for them — perhaps, now that their hardships are gaining exposure, that will change.

N. Korean Women Who Flee to China Suffer in Stateless Limbo [Washington Post]

• Sarah Palin didn't like David Letterman's crack Monday night about her "slutty flight attendant look" (neither did we); she calls it "pretty pathetic." If her make-up is the only thing he can find to mock, we agree. [Politico]

• A new poll shows that more than half of Republicans can't identify who leads their party, and those that can are split between Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush and John McCain — only one of whom actually holds a position within the party. [USA Today]
• The problem that rank-and-file Republicans have in identifying a leader might stem from the fact that the Republicans who have actually been elected think that government debt will bring down the Obama Administration. Just like it did Reagan's Administration, guys, amirite? [Politico, NY Times]
• Senator Pat Leahy has chosen July 13th to start confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, and Republicans are whining about having homework during the week long break they get for July 4th. [NY Times]
• Obama is dropping his plan to cap salaries at bailed-out firms and let them deal with Congressional caps on bonuses, which Congress passed thinking there would also be salary caps. [Wall Street Journal]
• We've decided to pay the impoverished island nation of Palau — which we normally ignore and let the Aussies take care of — $20 million in aid to take the 17 Chinese Uighurs we falsely imprisoned at the behest of the Chinese government and can't figure out what to do with. [NY Times]
• Also, we swear we're not going to invade North Korea the way we did Iraq and Afghanistan. [CNN]
• The Kenyan government is angry that the Obama Administration isn't blowing sunshine up its ass despite its human rights record, unwillingness to reform and political instability. [LA Times]
• Rod Blagojevich, in yet another effort to launch his official career as A Celebrity, will appear in a comedy routine about Rod Blagojevich with Second City in Chicago. [Associated Press]
• Former DNC Chairman and Clintonite Terry McAuliffe lost the 3-way Democratic primary in the Virginia Governor's race to some guy named Creigh that you've never heard of. [MSNBC]

• Stephen Colbert taped his first show from Baghdad yesterday, allowing General Ray Odierno to shave his head, declaring victory and not watering his act down in some insincere effort at sincerity. [NY Times]

• Sarah Palin, while introducing professional conservative Michael Reagan at an event in Alaska, may have paraphrased from a paper written by Newt Gingrich about Ronald Reagan, according to Geoffrey Dunn (who is writing what everyone expects will be an unflattering book about the Alaska Governor). Her lawyers say — correctly — that she actually cited the paper when giving the speech, and some day we'll all realize that specious attacks against Palin sap credibility from the good ones. [CBS, Huffington Post]
• Newt Gingrich isn't calling Judge Sonia Sotomayor a "racist" anymore. He's decided that he'll get in less trouble by just implying she's a racist because the actual racists in America will understand his code. Unfortunately for Newt, so do the rest of us. [Politico]
• He then completed his 180 degree flip-flop by stating that Republicans should "shrug off" ideological purists, by which he means "other ideological purists." [Politico]
• Former First Lady Laura Bush likes Sotomayor, so Rush Limbaugh is preparing a full-throated takedown of her for being uppity and speaking out of turn. Or not. [Associated Press]
• We're apparently about to start stopping North Korean weapons shipments. Umm, I'm not sure that "better late than never" really applies here. [CBS News]
• Hillary Clinton is trying to warn Iran against behaving like North Korea, which will likely be entirely effective. [UPI]
• She now says Obama has passed her "3 a.m." test, and admitted she initially turned down the role of Secretary of State but changed her mind after Obama kept after her. He's one charming motherfucker. [CNN]

In an interview with the Today Show, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson said the sentence — for illegal entry and an unspecified "grave crime" — was "harsher than expected." And it may mean that Ling and Lee are the first Americans ever to enter North Korea's notoriously horrific prison system. However, some say that the sentencing is actually the first step towards the journalists' release.

Former South Korean foreign minister Han Seung-soo says, "now that they are sentenced, we can think and talk about making arrangements for their release. It is ironic but with the sentencing we now have something more tangible to negotiate about." Richardson agrees, saying that, "in previous instances in which I was involved in negotiating releases, you couldn't even start until the legal process had ended."

In fact, the twelve-year sentence may not be the actual amount of time North Korea expects the women to serve, but rather a message to the West. North Korea expert Andrei Lankov says, ""The verdict does not mean much, since they will get released. Unfortunately, right now the North Koreans want to keep tensions high, so it will take many months and perhaps a year or more before the Pyongyang authorities will decide that it's time to make some friendly gesture to Washington."

South Korean lawmaker Hong Jung-wook says, "the sentence can be seen as an indication that North Korea is now expecting a very prominent envoy to come for the negotiations over their release." This envoy could be Richardson himself, who has negotiated with North Korea before, or it could be Al Gore, head of the journalists' employer, Current TV. But Richardson told the Today Show that "talk of an envoy is premature because what first has to happen is a framework for negotiations on a potential humanitarian release." He said the US will seek a "political pardon" for the journalists. In return, North Korea may demand that an envoy visit and discuss its nuclear program. Or the government may want humanitarian aid, such as food.

In the meantime, Andrei Lankov says Ling and Lee "are very unlikely to be sent to a real prison, since there they would learn too much about things outsiders are not supposed to know. I am pretty sure that the authorities will keep them in relative comfort, in conditions far better than the average prison, but still perhaps tough for the average American." The two have become the latest in a long list of foreigners North Korea has seized over the years. Kidnap victims include a 13-year-old Japanese girl named Megumi Yokota, a South Korean businessman whom the North continues to hold as a rebuke to South Korea, and a famous South Korean film producer, Shin Sang-ok. Shin eventually escaped, but not before being forced to make a socialist version of Godzilla.

American Journalists Convicted In North Korea [Today, via MSNBC]
Reporters Get 12-Year Terms In N. Korea [CNN]
N. Korea Convicts 2 U.S. Journalists [Washington Post]
North Korea Jails US journalists [BBC News]
North Korea Sentences U.S. Journalists [Wall Street Journal]
N. Korea Sentences 2 U.S. Journalists To 12 Years Of Hard Labor [New York Times]
Why North Korea's Jailing of U.S. Journalists Isn't Shocking [Time]

The two are accused of illegally entering North Korea while working on a Current TV story about refugees on the China-North Korea border. Some say they were actually arrested in China, and never trespassed into North Korea, but on thing seems clear — the North Korean government now wants to use the women's detention to pressure the United States. New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, who has negotiated the release of Americans held in North Korea before, says, "The North Koreans want to use these two American detainees as bargaining chips. [...] They want direct talks with the United States. It's a high-stakes poker game." The stakes have gotten higher since a recent nuclear test worsened US-North Korean relations.

If Ling and Lee are convicted, as many assume they will be, they may face up to ten years of hard labor in a North Korean prison. However, some take it as a good sign that the women were allowed to call their families. Ling's sister, TV journalist Lisa Ling, says Laura is "extremely scared" and believes that "the only way that she may be able to get released is if our two countries communicate." Hong Jung-wook, a member of the South Korean defense committee, says the phone calls mean "North Korea has left the door ajar." He adds,

Because the American reporters can be used as the trigger for bilateral dialogue with the United States, the North is not likely to mistreat them. The North Koreans will release the women when the timing is most favorable for North Korea's eventual purpose of engaging the United States.

The women's families and supporters hope this is true. Vigils on behalf of Ling and Lee were scheduled in several American cities last night. Protests have been held in the US and in South Korea. Meanwhile, Lisa Ling says she is drawing support from Facebook:

Through Facebook..., this whole grassroots movement has been born. I've been at home, late at night, feeling emotional, and I'll post something so intensely personal on Facebook, so random, I'll just type, 'I miss you Laura.' And I don't know who's reading it. But after I hit update, I'll think to myself, 'Why did I just post that for thousands of people I don't know to see?' And I think the reason is because there is no support group for this. For some reason, when people I don't even know, send me a message that says, 'We support you,' 'We're praying for you,' 'We're behind you,' somehow there's the strangest comfort in that.

UPDATE: While other media outlets are following the trial, Gawker wonders why Ling and Lee's employer, Current TV, has remained entirely silent on the issue.

North Korea To Hold Trial For Two U.S. Journalists [Reuters]
North Korea Tries US Journalists [BBC]
Journalists Caught In The Nuclear Crossfire [Independent]
Lisa Ling: Facebook Has Provided The 'Strangest Comfort' [BayNewser]
North Korea Puts Two U.S. Journalists On Trial [Washington Post]

Related: Current Stays Silent as Its Reporters Stand Trial in North Korea