Comments on: China: Ling and Lee Weren’t Seized on Our Territory

By: Sonagi

Sonagi — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:21:58 +0000

I have one more thing to say. The reason why I’m so skeptical and rolling my eyes at Ling and Lee’s account is that border hops like theirs trivialize the danger that North Koreans face in crossing that same border. American journalists Ling and Lee were lucky to be arrested by North Korean guards while “firmly on Chinese territory,” rather than being shot and left to die in the middle of the river.

By: Sonagi

Sonagi — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 23:39:21 +0000

I don’t think the legal dept. would advise the pair to lie outright. There are sandbars in the area of the river where they crossed. “Firmly on Chinese soil” could mean the riverbank near Yueqing or it could mean a sandbar. I certainly don’t think a lawyer actually wrote any portion of the story, either. On the other hand, I don’t think Laura and Euna sat down over coffee and penned the piece and then waltzed into the legal dept. office without any else at Current even having a look.

I have stood at two border points, one in Dandong and one in Tumen. There is no way in heck any guide could have persuaded me to cross into North Korea. Period. I know there are tourists and amateur agents who hop across sandbars for bragging rights, but those people are taking a foolish and unnecessary risk for nothing. So you walked on North Korean territory. BFD. You can trample all over the same dirt and grass on the Chinese side without fearing a hail of bullets.

By: Glans

Glans — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:39:07 +0000

Laura and Mitch weren’t naive. They’re experienced journalists. Somtimes, even experienced folks make mistakes. And Euna wasn’t naive, either. As a South Korean, she learned about North Korea. Laura’s and Euna’s statement says, “Feeling nervous about where we were, we quickly turned back toward China.” I suspect that Euna was the most nervous person there.

I don’t know if the legal department reviewed the statement, but it wouldn’t shock me. That’s very different from ghost-writing it. Besides, I wouldn’t expect a lawyer’s words to seem crafted by a writer skilled in creating literary imagery. I attribute the skilled writing to Laura Ling.

I doubt that Current lawyers would counsel Laura and Euna to lie, and I don’t see any reason to deny the accuracy of their statement. We know, however, that it is not complete: “There are things that are still too painful to revisit,” and “… what we have shared here is all we are prepared to talk about…”

Mitch Koss wasn’t at Bob Hope airport to greet Laura and Euna, and I don’t see any sign of him at current.com. If my conjecture that Mitch has left Current is false, it should be easy to refute.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:08:55 +0000

Glans: What makes you say that Mitch Koss doesn’t appear to be affiliated with Current TV anymore? I heard he had gone back to work there shortly after release of Ling, Lee.

By: Joshua Stanton

Joshua Stanton — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:42:46 +0000

I doubt it’s full and complete. If nothing else, they want to leave parts of the story untold. But the only part of their story that doesn’t make sense to me is the suggestion that they weren’t immediately searched, with all their papers and videotapes seized.

I find the idea of them briefly crossing the border, while not at all easy to explain, just barely understandable. Try to put yourself there, early in the morning along a very forlorn, isolated, and hostile place, with a guide to whom you’ve pretty much entrusted your life. Imagine yourself being as naive and insecure as they were. Then, this guide you’ve been referred to as a trustworthy person beckons you to follow.

I can try to put myself in their place and imagine myself as equally naive, and understand how they’d have followed … briefly. It doesn’t make it sensible, just very nearly understandable.

By: Sonagi

Sonagi — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:58:00 +0000

So if Current TV’s legal department reviewed the story, might they not have suggested edits? In other words, the published account may not be a full, complete, and accurate account.

By: Glans

Glans — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:41:47 +0000

Laura Ling is the vice-president of the Vanguard journalism unit of Current. She was responsible for the whole project, including the decision to follow Kim Seong-Cheol across the Tumen. She and Mitch Koss are experienced journalists.

I see no reason to doubt her and Euna Lee’s factual assertions, and I believe she’s capable of literary composition, without any ghost writer. But I wouldn’t be shocked if the legal department reviewed Laura’s and Euna’s statement before it was posted on the company web site.

Since Mitch doesn’t seem to be affiliated with Current any more, I don’t think anyone at Current can control him. I don’t know why he hasn’t published his version of these events.

The North Koreans accused Laura and Euna of two things, illegal entry and the “hostile acts” of working on a video report unfavorable to the regime. There was no accusation of espionage.

By: Joshua Stanton

Joshua Stanton — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 03:06:23 +0000

The silliest thing I’ve heard yet, but I’ll bet the Chinese netizens eat it up.

By: kumar

kumar — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:27:58 +0000

oh come on. cia? that’s just silly.

By: Spelunker

Spelunker — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:33:46 +0000

Victor Thorn found it first. He’s the one who wrote an editorial suggesting that Mitch, Laura, and Euna were in cahoots with the CIA. Thorn’s article was translated into Chinese and is currently being spread again across many news forums in the People’s Republic of China, just hours after Laura and Euna’s Op-Ed about being abducted on Chinese soil hit the wire.

http://www.the-peoples-forum.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=12492