After a recent meeting with officials in Pyongyang, University of Georgia Political Scientist Han S. Park says the North Korean government appears eager to release captured journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee so long as Washington recognizes their “hostile acts.”

In North Korea for academic reasons, Park said that he was able to speak to “responsible” North Korean officials who claimed that the Current TV reporters are being kept in a “luxurious” guest house in Pyongyang. Park said that because the two women, who were captured in March and sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp last month, have not yet been transferred to their detention facility, there is some hope that Pyongyang is awaiting a diplomatic breakthrough. Although the political scientist says there is no guarantee that the unpredictable North Korean government will cave to US demands, he suggested that the White House issue “a remorseful acknowledgement” of the journalists’ crimes to curry favor with Pyongyang.

Previously calling on North Korea to release the reporters on humanitarian grounds, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seemed to change her footing on Friday by apologizing on behalf of Ling and Lee and asking for amnesty.  Ling’s family has admitted that Laura may have broken North Korean law, but is hoping that Pyongyang might offer a pardon to the two reporters.

Ling and Lee were brought up on charges of “hostile acts” against the government when they were captured filming a news report on North Korean refugees along the Chinese border. While there is some speculation whether the reporters ever crossed into North Korea, Pyongyang accused Ling and Lee of attempting to show the regime in a bad light, a serious offense in the notoriously secretive country. Many fear that the two Americans will be used as bargaining chips as the United States and the UN plan a new round of sanctions on North Korea for their latest round of nuclear weapons testing last month.

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