Ling and Lee Open Up…Online

Four weeks since they returned to the U.S., Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee have opened up for the first time about their nearly five months in captivity in North Korea. But rather than break their silence with a national TV interview with the likes of Oprah Winfrey or Meredith Vieira, as many had expected, the two spoke about the experience in a post on the Current TV Website.

“We arrived at the frozen river separating China and North Korea at 5 o’clock on the morning of March 17,” the women wrote. “As the sun appeared over the horizon, our guide stepped onto the ice. We followed him.”

That decision was one that tormented the women during their harrowing imprisonment. Ling and Lee say they still don’t know if their guide, who is reportedly still in detention in China, purposely led them into a trap.

“We didn’t spend more than a minute on North Korean soil before turning back, but it is a minute we deeply regret,” the women wrote. After following their guide across the frozen Tumen River, Ling and Lee turned back but were caught by two armed North Korean soldiers.

The two reporters, who were covering the struggles of North Koreans living under an autocratic regime and the difficulties of North Korean immigrants smuggled into China, said they hoped their story wouldn’t overshadow the story they set out to cover.

“Many people have asked about our strength to endure such hardships and uncertainty. But our experiences pale when compared to the hardship facing so many people living in North Korea or as illegal immigrants in China,” they wrote.

While detained, Ling and Lee were careful to protect their sources and even swallowed notes and damaged videotapes in an attempt to destroy some of the evidence that could have potentially been used against them. What isn’t clear is whether or not the journalists or any of their colleagues at Current will take up the story they risked so much to report.

As my colleague Marisa Guthrie has noted, the experience of Ling and Lee highlights the risks that many freelance and independent journalists assume at a time when news networks are scaling back their international coverage.  So it was disappointing, if understandable, that the journalists concluded by indicating their statement would be all they would reveal publicly about their ordeal.

“We know that people would like to hear more about our experience in captivity. But what we have shared here is all we are prepared to talk about-the psychological wounds of imprisonment are slow to heal.”

We certainly respect their need for healing and wish them all the best as they continue to process their experience. And we hope that at some point, they will consider shedding more light on the dangers facing journalists working on the ground in hostile territory.