Updated: Summary of Ling-Lee family appearances on The Today Show (and CNN)

Updated: The family members of detained journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live tonight as part their efforts to further publicize the detention of the two reporters as their “trial” date in North Korea nears.

While much of the show was a repeat of this morning’s interview on The Today Show in terms of public appeal from the family members, a few new revelations caught my attention:

• This was Euna Lee’s first assignment out of the editing room as she is more of an editor vs reporter.
• Lisa Ling again mentioned the possibility that the two women were unintentionally in North Korea, saying that it is possible they crossed over and if so, maybe it was for a couple of minutes. When offered the chance to relay a message to North Korean officials, who are known to watch Larry King’s program, Lisa again apologized for whatever crimes the two women committed. (See my conflicted thoughts on apologizing in such circumstances in the original post below.) Note: I do not want it to appear that Ling was indeed confirming they were in North Korea. She simply acknowledged that if they were, she is sorry and would like to apologize on their behalf.
• As for the upcoming “trial,” the Swedish delegation that has been in touch with the two women wishes to be present during the proceedings, but is unsure if that will be allowed.
• Bill Richardson was interviewed via sattelite about the case. He said he believes the Obama administration is doing a good job of dealing with the situation by keeping the issue of North Korea’s nuclear weapons separate from Ling and Lee’s detainment for if they link the two issues together, the women will become bargaining chips. (I almost think it’s too late for that. I think they have always been considered bargaining chips, unfortunately.) He also said Obama and Clinton are doing the right thing by not insulting the Kim regime as Bush did when he labeled the country as part of the “axis of evil.” The fact that Ling and Lee are being accused of “hostile acts” is promising because it is not espionage, which is a more serious accusation, he said. Also, the fact that there is a trial date set suggests good news because it means the “legal” process is near an end. Richardson also said he expects a sentence to be announced first, after which, negotiations can take place. He felt Clinton was doing an great job of dealing with the situation by talking to the U.N and China and making public appeals. (For what it’s worth, I’ve found her public appeals to be quite weak.) Apparently, the State Department considers this a high priority, although I would argue that publicly, it’s hard to see that for if this is the case, surely the family members wouldn’t be compelled to go public despite being asked to stay silent.
• Iian Clayton, Laura’s husband, has written a post on Larry King’s blog, which can be accessed here.

In case you missed it, Laura Ling and Euna Lee’s families were on The Today Show this morning to publicize the situation of the two detained reporters. Here is a link to this morning’s interview.
Let me start by saying that it was good to see them go public with the case, especially as the “trial” date nears. And based on what the family members were saying in the interview, I could see just how difficult it is talking about this when the situation is so fragile. Clearly, you don’t want to say anything to jeopardize the reporters’ well-being. For the most part, I think they conveyed their message fairly well.

Basically, Lisa Ling said the families felt it was time to go public because they wanted to urge both countries (the U.S. and DPRK) to sit down and talk, and to resolve the issue of Laura and Euna’s detainment separate from the current nuclear issue. The detainment of the two women should be dealt with from a humanitarian aspect, she said.

What remains unclear, however, is where the two journalists were when they were taken. They family members interviewed said they do not know whether the two were in North Korea or China, but Lisa did say one thing that I don’t think should be interpreted any particular way (it should be noted that the families have heard from the two women since their detainment):

“They haven’t talked specifically about their crimes, but what we can tell you with absolute definity [sic] is when they left the United States, there was no intention of crossing the border into North Korea. And if at any point they may have, we the families, apologize profusely on their behalf.”

In my opinion, apologies are a tricky tactic, if not for the propaganda risks involved. Obviously you don’t want to apologize if you didn’t do anything wrong to begin with (thus Lisa used the word “if” which is important) yet at the same time, you want to do whatever it takes to get these two released and if apologizing is what it takes, then of course you want to try that. However, what if the apology is manipulated by the North Korean regime as an admission of wrong-doing?

It’s such a difficult decision to make (do you apologize or not?) and I myself as a family member at least, would be very hesitant to offer an apology on national T.V., especially if I don’t know the facts behind the detainment (i.e. where they were when they were taken). But that is just my personal concern and I could be over-sensitive to the issue.

Anyway, as a reminder, the families will continue to take their message to the public with future appearances scheduled as follows: Larry King show (CNN) 9pm (EST) l 6pm (PST); Lisa will also be on Nightline, with Bob Woodruff Mon night. l 11:35pm (EST); and Wednesday, June 3rd with Anderson Cooper.