North Korea Detains Two (?) U.S. Journalists

As you see, the reports conflict as to how many incidents there were, how many journalists were detained, and on which side of the border:

The preponderance of reports thus far suggest that two American journalists with the network Current TV were arrested — and if this is confirmed, it would be fair to say “abducted” — from the Chinese side of the Yalu River while filming North Korea.

Two American journalists on a reporting trip to the border between China and North Korea have been detained by the North Korean military, a human rights activist and another source said Thursday.

Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, and Euna Lee, a Korean-American, were believed to have been detained by North Korean border guards Tuesday morning. Their Chinese guide, an ethnic Korean, was also detained. A third journalist, Mitch Koss, was believed to have remained in China. [N.Y. Times]

South Korean network YTV (which had originally reported that both women were Korean-American) reported that the journalists were detained by border guards after refusing orders to stop filming from the Chinese side of the border. The BBC quotes YTV as reporting that the North Koreans crossed the river to arrest the two women, and the presumably forced them back across the river to the Workers’ Paradise. YTV claims to have gotten its information from “a South Korean government official.”

The journalists (I’m not sure which of them is depicted in this Current TV photo) were trying to do what the Times itself seldom does — report on the plight of ordinary people in North Korea. The Rev. Chun Ki-Won, a leader of the underground railroad for North Korean refugees, had helped arrange the reporting trip, and the two detained journalists were cooperating on some level with a Chosun Ilbo correspondent as well. According to Chun, the two journalists were headed for the town of Dandong.

And in addition to this, the AP cites a Munwha Ilbo report that a female reporter named “Ming” who was working for a U.S. network was detained by North Koreans near North Korea’s western border with China. It’s not clear if the reports describe one or separate incidents.

In recent times, some remarkable reports from the Yalu River area had shown just how porous the Chinese-North Korean border had become. The Chosun Ilbo’s ground-breaking “On the Border” series, produced in cooperation with the BBC, depicted the misery of North Korean refugees vividly.

Since then, this Japanese television report became the only one to my knowledge to be filmed inside North Korea surreptitiously. The journalists hired a Chinese guide, who carried them to a North Korean island in the middle of the river. Other Chinese boatmen had even gone into the business of leading human safaris along the south bank of the river. The opening of the border follows other reports of a breakdown of discipline and morale among North Korean border guards. North Korea defends its isolation as if the survival of the regime depends on it. Because it does.

For now, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul is saying nothing; ditto KCNA. Also silent for the moment: Current TV’s co-founder, Al Gore. Expect the North Koreans to make a big deal out of this unless an exorbitant ransom is promptly tendered. Indeed, Chun Ki-Won told the New York Times that North Korean guards had recently “lured” outsiders to come close enough to the border to abduct them and hold them for ransom. It’s unlikely that North Korean border guards would dream up anything that ambitious without orders from higher up, and a provocation of this kind certainly serves the regime’s interests in grabbing attention, harrumphing at the Americans, testing a new president, extorting concessions, and — mostly importantly — deterring journalists from reporting on the misery of the North Korean people.