Ling and Lee Write About Their Experience in North Korea

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the two American journalists released last month after being imprisoned in North Korea, tell their story in the Los Angeles Times and remind people of the story they wanted to cover.

Here are excerpts to their opinion article:

Our motivations for covering this story were many. First and foremost,
we believe that journalists have a responsibility to shine light in
dark places, to give voice to those who are too often silenced and
ignored. One of us, Euna, is a devout Christian whose faith infused her
interest in the story. The other, Laura, has reported on the
exploitation of women around the world for years. We wanted to raise
awareness about the harsh reality facing these North Korean defectors
who, because of their illegal status in China, live in terror of being
sent back to their homeland.

We didn’t spend more than a minute on North Korean soil before turning
back, but it is a minute we deeply regret. To this day, we still don’t
know if we were lured into a trap. In retrospect, the guide behaved
oddly, changing our starting point on the river at the last moment and
donning a Chinese police overcoat for the crossing, measures we assumed
were security precautions. But it was ultimately our decision to follow
him, and we continue to pay for that decision today with dark memories
of our captivity.

Since our release, we have become aware that the situation along the China-North Korea border has become even more challenging for aid groups and that many defectors are going deeper underground. We regret if any of our actions, including the high-profile nature of our confinement, has led to increased scrutiny of activists and North Koreans living along the border. The activists’ work is inspiring, courageous and crucial.