in any case, how irresponsible and reckless of ling and lee.

that said, the north korean judicial system is still a joke and there is no legitimate reason for holding the two.

http://liberatelaura.wordpress.com/2009/06/23/betrayed-at-the-border/

Public silence is not the same as indifference.

True. But, what are the chances Pyongyang will take public silence as indifference? Fairly high, I’d think.

North Korea’s recent nuclear developments are a far more important concern demanding immediate attention from our government

But, how is paying attention and making an issue out of the holding of these two women going to hamper progress on the nuke issue?

It certainly won’t stymie any progress currently underway – because there is none.

All approaches to Pyongyang are dead in the water, and we have every reason to believe that the Obama administration has in mind to take a tougher line with Pyongyang.

How could making an issue of the two reporters harm that?

As I noted in the earlier comments, it seems more likely putting pressure on NK about these reporters could easily work to enhance international public pressure on Pyongyang concerning these other, more important issues: nuke testing and ICBM development and nuclear programs.

If I could see where there is a good chance taking up the issue of the two reporters would greatly retard progress on other issues, I’d agree it isn’t worth it.

But I don’t think that is the case.

Of course, if the US government doesn’t really care – if it doesn’t even want to waste the energy on an effort — none of this makes a difference anyway…

As much as I feel for the plight of these women and their families, I do not consider the imprisonment of these two journalists a top priority for the State Department. It is first and foremost a problem for Current TV to solve. North Korea’s recent nuclear developments are a far more important concern demanding immediate attention from our government.

it would gain nothing by harming its hostages.

From there down in Songi’s last comment — it could be true, but it isn’t the only viable interpretation of the situation. In fact, the exact opposite could also be true:

The North Korean regime is a megalomaniacal one that frequently does things that don’t make sense compared to how much of the world operates.

For example, who would have predicted, or can make sense of, North Korea sending military patrol boats to shoot it up with South Korean patrol boats in the West Sea just because South Korea was hosting the World Cup?

The one woman’s sister made an international fool out of the regime by daring to come into the country undercover and then create a much watched documentary lambasting the Dear Leader and his regime.

– That is easily more than enough motivation for a regime like that to want to harm both women and actually keep them in the gulag for the time specified or death, whichever comes first.

I think you can even consider a realistic scenario of motivation to harm the women that doesn’t include that sister:

It is a given that the regime has taken note of the handful of documentaries that have been done the last ten years and noted that some of the most compelling elements in them has come from reporters and NGOs doing exactly what these two reporters were doing on the border – and that those documentaries has damned the regime in the eyes of millions around the world.

That is more than enough incentive for a regime like Pyongyang to harm these women – both as some kind of misguided payback at the other documentary and news footage makers not even connected to these two particular women — but also as a way to warn would-be border filmers to stay away.

Just in that alone, it calls into question the idea quoted above — “it would gain nothing by harming its hostages.”

That is why I haven’t liked the “go silent” approach by the US government from the start:

Given that chance the regime might be inclined to do harm to these two women, showing indifference on the part of Washington makes the chance the North will decide to harm them much higher.

If Washington had come out strong from the start saying it took the plight of these women very seriously, the North would have had to think twice before it did anything to them in the form of torture.

Seeing Washington doesn’t care makes it easier for Pyongyang to decide to take revenge or send a message to other would-be filmers.

The line of thinking in Sonagi’s last comment makes sense if the two women are only chips to be negotiated away — that they are just something the North wants to make a profit on.

But I can’t rest assured that a regime like North Korea has proven itself to be time and time again in the past —- doesn’t consider the two are more than just a cash cow.

I can easily picture an outcome in which, once the North sees that it isn’t going to gain as much as it would like out of the US regarding the two, it will decide to do things with them based on other motivations it likely has…

That’s my fear in a nutshell — and why I’ve been advocating the US government make a big deal out of them being held.

….and secondarily, I also see putting pressure on NK on this issue could help the US in other areas — where it is trying to pressure the North in general. The idea being that the more heat the North faces on a string of issues, the better the chance we have of forcing them to reform in key areas…

Indifference only seems to make sense if we believe that the North will quickly hand the two women over once it sees it can’t gain money and resources for holding them.

It only makes sense if you believe that the two women are going to be released no matter what.

To me, that is a gamble.

I can easily picture these two women being held for years and even never being heard from again.

The North is the kind of regime that kidnaps Japanese citizens using submarines and commandos just to teach its spies the Japanese language and customs.

Then years later, stubbornly holds onto some of these abductees despite Japan’s willingness to pay to get them back.

How hard is it to imagine that Pyongyang might in fact decide to keep a hold on these two women?

And isn’t it more likely that indifference and silence from Washington will make holding them and torturing them easier for Pyongyang to do???