COMING HOME

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the two American journalists sentenced to 12 years hard labor in North Korea, are on their way back to the United States, thanks to the efforts of President Bill Clinton.



Do not fall for North Korean attempts to exploit this; Bill Clinton did a good thing, this is a time for joy & celebration. Two American citizens being held against their will have been liberated. 4+ months in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is no vacation - the DPRK is NOT a fun place to be, even in a "guesthouse" in Pyongyang.

Euna Lee and Laura Ling were arrested for "grave", though unspecified, crimes on the North Korea-China border earlier this year. It is widely thought that they deliberately crossed the border


The former President meets Yang Hyong Sop, Vice-President of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly - whatever you gotta say, whatever it takes - as long as there's no strings attached - to get your people back.


North Korea’s official news agency reported that Mr Clinton and Mr Kim engaged in "sincere and exhaustive discussions" on a range of issues.

Yeah, WHATEVER. Notice how Bill Clinton negates the North Korean propaganda photo-op event by showing NO EMOTION. Mister Charisma is NOT SMILING; he is stiff as a board, lifeless - this is not by accident, he has been coached. His body language says: "None of this counts, nothing of what you see or hear means anything. My heart is not in this. There is no meaning to my words. I am just going through the motions. There is no recognition of the people with whom I am speaking (the North Koreans). I give you nothing, and you give me my people." - S.L.


South Koreans have been demanding the release of the two women. Here they burn a defaced North Korean flag during a rally - where can I get a spray can that squirts out flames like that?

Here at STORMBRINGER we NEVER lost hope & faith . . . Welcome Home Laura Ling & Euna Lee ! ! !

NORKORCOM UPDATE

North Korea naval forces seized four South Korean fishermen and their boat Thursday after the fishermen apparently drifted into North Korean waters.

North Korea's military said in a written message to the South that "the issue of crew members and the vessel will be dealt with according to the outcome of the investigation," according to the Unification Ministry in Seoul. The message provided no word on the fishermen's condition or any other details, the ministry said.

A North Korean navy patrol boat is seen amongst North Korean fishing boats near disputed waters with South Korea

North Korea has a long history of taking South Korean citizens, Japanese, and citizens of other Asian nations and holding them against their will for long periods of time.

A South Korean employee of the two Koreas' joint industrial park in the border town of Kaesong was detained in March for allegedly denouncing Pyongyang's political system. Seoul repeatedly has demanded his release but the North has not allowed access to him.

It is significant to note that as of this time, there is no news update on the fate of US journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, held by the North Koreans since March of this year and recently sentenced to 12 years hard labor. Their fate was commented on 19 July.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee: You Are Not Forgotten.

YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

It is important that the stories of Americans held captive overseas do not fade from the front pages.

Since I updated last week’s post about the captured American soldier depicted in the Taliban video - identified as PFC Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, member of 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment – I received some comments from various sites.

I usually don’t reply to comments - the template is to post, generate discussion and move on. But this issue is somewhat personal: I am a US Army soldier, retired, and half my family is Korean.

Red, White & Blue trumps politics and opinions for all of us in situations like this. Bergdahl, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, myself - and I’m assuming most of the readership - we are all Americans; politics ends at the water’s edge.

It is not correct to armchair quarterback these situations.


I don’t know how or via what misadventure Bergdahl ended up in enemy hands; I have heard some scuttlebutt directly out of Afghanistan re Bergdahl but at this time it is simply impossible for us to know the truth of his situation.

The Taliban are terrorist scum with a world view straight out of the 13th century. However Bergdahl arrived in his circumstances, it is not incorrect to hope & pray for his safe return.



As for Laura Ling & Euna Lee, yes it seems they are guilty of faulty judgment - but The North Koreans are capable of unimaginable intolerance and harsh cruelty. Whether Laura Ling & Euna Lee are in a labor camp or a “guest house” in Pyongyang, I can assure you their current circumstances make Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo look like a Sunday School picnic.


In both cases it is the height of poor taste to offer some of the opinions expressed.

They are Americans, held against their will by people who regard them as “bargaining chips”; insane savages who see fit starve & torture their own people into submission, via state-sponsored terrorism.

Regarding the suggestion of negotiating with the Taliban - the reason why our official policy is that we do not negotiate with terrorists, is because it only encourages them to kidnap more Americans. As for the thought that because we liberated their country by military force, the Taliban possess some kind of moral high ground over us; this is laughable and pathetic all at the same time.

- LINNANE SENDS

YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

UPDATE 21 JUL 09: The captured American soldier depicted in this Taliban video has since been identified - Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho, member of 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment. He is going through Hell, of course. While Bowe's family and friends go through their personal sort of living Hell, the following stories of Americans held captive overseas have faded from the front pages:


By now most of you have seen this Taliban propaganda video of an unamed American soldier, missing from his base in eastern Afghanistan June 30 and later confirmed captured. The soldier's identity has not yet been confirmed by Dept of Defense, pending notification of the soldier's family. U.S. defense officials confirmed that the man in the video is the captured soldier.



Rest assured the United States is on a full-court press to recover our soldier. Think of him as you enjoy your Sunday morning round of golf, or fishing. Remember him in your prayers at church, or temple.

Our prayers are with him.



MEANWHILE . . .

Two American journalists are still being held by North Korea.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee work for Al Gore’s California-based Current TV media group.

The two Americans were detained near the North Korean border with China and were sentenced last month to 12 years of hard labor for entering the country illegally and for “hostile acts.” North Korean officials may have been angered at the journalists for trying to produce a program critical of North Korea.


Laura Ling and Euna Lee, you are not forgotten.

North Korea may spare the US journalists from hard labor, but the two women still face awful conditions. Even if they have not yet been sent to a labor camp, they are no doubt being subjected to early morning wake up calls, daily interrogation / "re-education" sessions (that go on for unbelievable lengths of time, well into the night), minimal food of poor nutritional value, and every facet of their daily lives controlled. The worst could possibly be the stress and anxiety accompanying the fear of the unknown.

News is difficult to get out of the world's most isolated and repressed society. Their exact whereabouts remain unknown; the latest I was able to glean from open-source is that North Korea has delayed sending the two American journalists to prison labor camp.

North Korean labor camps are notorious: the horrific conditions rival that of the Third Reich, or the torture factories of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. Possibly hundreds of thousands of North Koreans face starvation, filth, disease, hard labor, exposure to the elements, daily "re-education" torture sessions, summary executions and anonymous graves.

Click here to learn how you can help Laura Ling and Euna Lee.


The Korean peninsula by night.