Euna Lee, left; Laura Ling, right, Yonhap news agency
The following was written by fellow blogger Jason Lunasin. I feel that there should be greater outrage over Ling and Lee’s detainment among the American public, and I’ve been meaning to address it. However, Jason is far more familiar with the subject matter than I am. I’m glad he wrote this up. Thanks, Jason.
Today on April 5th, 2009, North Korea successfully launched a Rocket – unlike the rockets in your video games (Rocket Propelled Grenades) but a rocket to place a satellite in space. The rocket, however, was reported to have failed in placing a satellite in space – all three stages of rockets falling into the ocean. So is this a legitimate attempt at a space program (It is on par with a lot of initial attempts to get into space)? Or a test event for a nuclear weapon distribution method (Ballistic Missiles)? It’s hard to tell with the basically this general layout of tasks: shoot on out of the atmosphere and drop back somewhere on Earth. With no capable way of distinguishing the two, we have two crowds of people crying out to the world right now:
- The crowd that is either fearful for their national security, or that Korea has violated the 2006 UN Security Council Resolution S/RES/1718 (2006) by the testing of a rocket launch that may be potentially used as a ballistic missile vessel for nuclear weapons.
- And the much smaller crowd that says that North Korea has no malicious intent with the recent test, and shall be able to conduct the rocket program.
I’m not going to talk about the actual events any further – you can read your news source to get it. Instead, I will discuss a small puzzle piece that may end up playing a part in the big picture: The North Korean detainment of two Asian American journalists.
Laura Ling and Euna Lee currently face “5 and 10 years of ‘education through labor’ for people convicted of ‘hostile acts’ against the state” (Sang-Hun, 2009) after being detained on March 17 at the North Korea – China boarder while working on a story. Most sources have said the piece is a “Human Trafficking” story but a few sources report that they were working on a story on the North Korean refugees that have been fleeing to China to live in hiding. Whether or not Ling and Lee were actually crossed the border into North Korea is unknown due to conflicting reports. (The Epoch Times, 2009) However, (unless it has recently changed) there is history of North Korean soldiers stopping reporting with Camera’s from recording and detaining the recording medium.
Many are calling Ling and Lee North Korea’s upper hand for any negotiation that may take place over the next few days. With the possibility of the pair of journalists being forced into labor by way of an improper trial, it would seem that the U.S. being responsible for the safety of its citizens would already be negotiating for the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee – But why is there such little buzz on that?
So who are Laura Ling and Euna Lee? The pair are currently working for CurrentTV as members of the Current Vanguard Team. The Vanguard team is dedicated to good journalism and often taking risks in order to bring the true facts to the table on many issues. For example, Kaj Larson personally underwent waterboarding on camera, Mariana VanZeller’s reporting on many of the black market industries in Africa have left her fleeing from gunfire, and Adam Yamaguchi’s reporting in the Northern Pakistan/Afghanistan where he was safe only because they thought he was a Japanese reporter. Laura Ling has worked on a lot of stories in China from urbanization, the restricted internet, to workers who farm RPG characters and items, to work in the electronics recycling “plants”, to prostitution – in some cases leaving her at risk due to the black markets or the media control. It is safe to say that Laura and Euna knew the risks of their work, and knew very well not to cross into North Korea. In fact, a South Korean activist warned them “not to venture into North Korean territory and pressed them to go to another area farther south along the Chinese border that was deemed less risky” (Schumann & Lee, 2009)
I strip the formalities again, in order to voice an aspect of my opinion.
The other day I ran across an article titled “Where’s the web 2.0 freedom of information (and Al Gore) for the journalists captured in North Korea?” (I guess it is time I add that Al Gore is the founder of CurrentTV.) It questions why there has been little reaction from CurrentTV and a lack of public support for Laura Ling and Euna Lee. I, personally, have only heard of one organization participating in a localized calling for the quick and swift release of Laura and Euna. And maybe it is time for the greater public to press our officials to do so.
From what I have gathered on the story she was working on, it would appear that the Vanguard Team was reporting on the North Korean refugees fleeing the North, into China and taking the journey all the way through China into Laos to claim refugee status, and be deported to South Korea. One heck of a journey.
I ran across a documentary here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
I’m not sure of the exact source or if the poster is the actual owner of the material – but he might be. Just make sure you get past the awful voice over voice.
Works Cited
Sang-Hun, C. (2009, March 31). New York Times. Retrieved March 31, 2009, from North Korea to Try US Journalists: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/world/asia/01korea.html?_r=3&src=linkedin
Schumann, P., & Lee, A. (2009, 3 26). New American Media. Retrieved 5 4, 2009, from Korean Activist Warned Detained Reporters Not to Cross Border: http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=f334f30504dd92b6e007c66071f4d7ef&from=rss
The Epoch Times. (2009, 3 21). Retrieved 3 31, 2009, from Soldiers Cross China-North Korea Border, Detaining Two U.S. Reporters : http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/14047/
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I agree with everything you said. About #1…I think...
what? I didn’t know this! I gotta get my research on…
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mmm….arrested? ….thats what happens when you go to a foreign country thinking “Im an AMERICAN i do what i want!”.
I dont get it with Asian Americans who do sh*t like this. Youre Asian American! ASIAN AMERICAN!!! what are you doing working for “the man” anyway? jesus, just like those Asian American fools at LinK or Free Tibet or Falun Gong , Epoch times, NDTV or any other so called freedom and democracy promoting organisation.
Dont they understand the real interests these 2 bit operations serve? R.Aoki would be turning in his grave.
“oh yeah, i ll just pop over to the militarised border and take a peek, and get some pics/shots of sensitive military area…….its illegal? …oh, its okay cause I’m an American, and the U.S will protect me!”
err, no, you are Asian American which means U.S dont really give a fck about you, especially not the people in the media. You think they would support you? they dont even support you IN AMERICA! what makes you think that they’ll support you overseas??!!! Goddamn house asians, stop trying to act as though you are modern charlie chan! its pathetic!, really! you wanna work for the man?! YOU WANNA WORK FOR THE MAN!!? YOU GET WHAT YOU DESERVE!
Anna,
I believe there are many aspects of the Asian American culture. And they may and or may not be defined across generational lines – but I do believe it is common to see it through them.
Be it rooted in America and concerned on local politics to an overseas concern for people in a country where the person in question could very well be their relative, or just a predisposed awareness to the reality of what is overseas.
I also believe in a two stepped approach to addressing things that most people don’t know about: Awareness, and Action.
I believe that they address the first part, Awareness.
be it not on something here in America – but still something I think is important.
mmm……maybe youve got it a bit twisted, friend. Do you know the organisations i’m talking about? you can google their names and see who are the organisers, and who supplies the funding for these so called independent human rights groups. NDTV for example is funded through the U.S Foreign Affairs office and the American Democracy Foundation, which has links to the U.S defence department. Or the Tibetan Youth Congress, which was originally funded by the CIA, and now through the American Democracy Foundation. These are massive organisations, which extensive financial backing. They arent independent, nor are they working for the interests of Asians in U.S or Asians in Asia. Think about it.
These people remind me of the Asian Americans who fought for the U.S in the Vietnam war in the 1960s, while their compatriots were organising the I WOR KUEN , or Wei Min Shi. One group is trying to fight for civil rights for their people in the country they are born in, the other is serving in the military of the system that denies their civil rights at home. Not only that, they are killing other Asians in Asia to uphold the very system of oppression that denigrates them and other Asian people back home (the U.S)
These people have lost perspective, and assimilated too much into the dominant culture.They arent working for the socio-political interests of Asian Americans, or Asians in Asia. They are, unfortunately, house Asians, and they arent very aware of anything at all.
Man, instead of working for Currenttv, why dont they work for Hyphen Magazine, AsianWeek, AsianAm, 13minutes, Giant Robot, even Audrey magazine?!!
Hi Anna.
What you said about Asian Americans assimilating into the White Mainstream is very true. It’s all about chasing after the money, power, and status.
One result is that these people have very little consciousness of past Asian American struggles–other than maybe a sanitized mainstream version of this history.
How many Asian Americans today know about organizations like I WOR KUEN or Wei Min Shi that you mentioned, or the numerous radical movements of the 1960s and 1970s?
Very few, if any.
Another thing is that some Asian Americans are embarrassingly conformist in terms of not questioning what the USA really stands for as a nation, or should I say as an empire.
They will accept the mainstream viewpoint that the USA is a “Beacon of Liberty” for the rest of the world to emulate, and that America is nobly promoting (cough) human rights and democracy in places like North Korea.
This view, however, doesn’t pass the laugh test, as even a cursory examination of American foreign and domestic policy would show. (e.g. American torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay or the massive US prison-industrial complex that is the largest incarceration system in the world.)
But I guess that’s the price of living in the (un)reality of CNN, Hollywood, and Main Street, USA.
Man, instead of working for Currenttv, why dont they work for Hyphen Magazine, AsianWeek, AsianAm, 13minutes, Giant Robot, even Audrey magazine?!!
Or they could work for the Asian American Movement E-Zine! (though you don’t get paid)
http://www.aamovement.net/index.html
BTW, are you part of any Asian American left/radical organization? I don’t see many such groups these days. What ever happened to Asian Left Forum, for instance?
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Hi… great post! I’m writing about the same topic on my blog. Please help Laura and Euna!
I’m one of the writers from Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology, which you’ve blogged about. Thanks for plugging our novel. Recently, I dug up some old G.I. Joe comics of mine that were scripted by Secret Identities interviewee Larry Hama, and while re-reading one of the comics, which involves the capture of an American journo in a foreign country, I couldn’t help but think of the kidnapping of Ling and Lee:
http://afistfulofsoundtracks.blogspot.com/2009/05/old-gi-joe-comic-has-eerie-parallels-to.html
I started catching Current’s Vanguard series right before Ling was captured, and yeah, the show’s correspondents are very dedicated to their work and understated in their approach (which is a far cry from an embarrassment of a reporter like CNN’s Rick “Tase me, bro!” Sanchez). Here’s hoping things turn out well for Ling and Lee like it did for Roxana Saberi.
Hey Jimmy,
Great story in Secret Identities! If I remember correctly, you brought up many of the gender issues that we’re discussing right now on the Stereotypes and Media podcast discussion.
Thanks for following up on the story of Ling and Lee. I hope everything turns out well. Good blog post too.
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Vigil for what? So, the propagand campaign can continue? NK evil empire….usa always right? lol…oops looks like someone got caught with their hands in the cookie jar and now we gotta blame someone….might as well be them “gooks”……good luck girls, but this is gonna get real ugly so think the next time someone wants you to put their a***** on the line for another prop story……capiche?
Yeah, truth hurts doesn’t it………..
Jampong4life, you’re an asshat! Go find your truth in Pyongyang and scream ‘democracy’ and you’ll be tried, too. There’s your truth!
there is no outrage because they are not white women. They will get perfunctory coverage and that is all, unlike the massive media hysteria over Chandra Levy, Natalee Holloway, the stupid runaway bride. Any person of color who goes missing, let alone held hostage, gets limited coverage by the mainstream media.
CBS journalist Kimberly Dozier gets wounded from an IED, ABC correspondent Bob Woodruff gets wounded in Iraq as well and the mainstream press goes ape shit because “they were one of us” and there are these endless stories about their recovery and their journey, blah blah blah.
Don’t Euna and Laura count as fellow journalists? Don’t they count? Apparently not.
Mojo rider, you hit the nail RIGHT ON THE HEAD!!! cause its the truth. But this is a good lesson for the two captured journalists to reflect on just “whose” interests they are serving when they go around “reporting” in countries that have been victimsed by the foreign policy of Amelikkka….
Well, lets hope the girls get saved.
Well, now that the poor ladies have been “convicted”, I’m hoping this amps up the media coverage about their plight. But I ain’t holding my breath that Nancy Grace on CNN will be devoting tons of coverage to Euna and Laura as she does for any missing white girl (and I am not dismissing the concerns of anyone’s child that goes missing). The coverage doesn’t seem to be equal for people of color.
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