Vigils took place across the United States today in support of two reporters imprisoned in North Korea.  The rallies for Laura Ling and Euna Lee, two journalists for Current TV, coincided with the start of their trial in one of the most isolated, totalitarian nations on earth.

Ling and Lee were detained in March on the North Korean border with China by North Korean border guards.  The pair were researching a story for Current TV on North Korean refugees fleeing the country.   Although not all the charges against the two are known, they are accused of crossing illegally into North Korea, which carries a penalty of 10 years in a forced labor camp.Being a political prisoner in North Korea, particularly given the current crisis surrounding North Korea’s nuclear tests and the sabre rattling that surrounds it, is a scary prospect, to put it mildly.  Given the history of the North Korean regime - which includes multiple kidnappings, state sanctioned drug trafficking to increase the country’s foreign currency reserves and dealing nuclear technology on the international black market - the prospect that these journalists were taken prisoner simply as political bargaining chips is not unlikely.  Let’s hold out hope that justice can be found even in North Korea and these two can be released as soon as possible.

LINKS:

Reuters: North Korea holds trial for two US journalists

Seattle Times: North Korea should free the American journalists

Media Bistro: Candlelight Vigil Tonight for Imprisoned Journalists