Jailed Foreign Journalist - Assignment Example

An Investigative Journalism Report on a Profile of Jailed Foreign Journalist Journalism, like any other career, has its fair share of rewards. People practicing journalism appreciate the idea of bringing to the attention of the world stories never heard before. They also get a lot of contentment especially after highlighting stories, which needed immediate attention, and the response accorded was immediate. However, journalists, whether local or foreign, have a fair share of challenges. The main role of a journalist is to investigate and report on an issue. Sometimes, the issues reported, such as child trafficking, corruption, and drug trafficking, has a tendency of causing upsets in many quarters. It is for this reason, among others, that journalists are victimized, harassed, assaulted, imprisoned, and even killed. The categories of journalists who are greatly affected are foreign journalist. This essay will highlight these challenges, by giving an investigative report of two jailed foreign journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee. It will examine their work prior to their arrest, their arrest and trial, their sentencing, and the interventions that led to their release. Finally, it will give a conclusion. Euna Lee and Laura Ling are journalists living and working in the United States. Euna Lee is an American of Korean descent while Laura Ling is a Chinese American. They are both journalists at a Television station, Current TV, based in California. Current TV, which broadcasts from San Francisco was co-founded Al Gore who is a former vice-president of the US. Ling works as the station’s news editor, while Lee is the news editor. In the year 2009, the duo began work on a documentary whose intention was to highlight the plight of North Koreans attempting to run away from the dictator government in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, into China across the Tumen River (Human Rights Watch, 69). This was the genesis of their troubles with the isolated communist country. The investigative work of Lee and Ling took the duo to China, a longtime ally and cross border neighbor of North Korea but whose laws were a bit friendly to foreign journalists. China was thus a strategic country to launch investigations from. This is mostly so because it shares a border with North Korea which refugees use to cross over. Lee and Ling would thus be able to launch their investigations about human trafficking and the issue of refugees, and tell the story to the world through their documentary. However, they had to conduct all their operations within the borders of China. Otherwise, they would be arrested and detained by the communist state. In March 2009, the two foreign journalists while at work, crossed over to North Korea across the frozen Tumen River. The two were filming a documentary to highlight the plight of North Korean refugees living in deplorable conditions in the country. They were also investigating human trafficking trade that had peaked because of the high numbers of persons who attempted to escape the oppressive regime in North Korea (Human Rights Watch, 69). Many other North Koreans were also trying to reconnect with their loved ones in South Korea. The border with China offered a chance for these refugees. Laura and Lee, in full knowledge of the possible repercussions of being in North Korea as foreign journalists, proceeded to cross over. They admitted that they entered North Korea illegally, although for a short duration of time, before crossing back to China. In the month of March 2009, Laura Ling and Euna Lee were apprehended and detained by North Korean soldiers, commonly referred to as Korean People’s Army soldiers, guarding the border. The reason leading to their arrest has however not been cleared since (Giles, 55). While some reports indicate that the duo were arrested for filming refugees along North Korea’s north-east border with China, other reports say that they were captured by the North Korean soldiers who were guarding the borders for filming them. The two women arrested alongside two men, a camera operator and a Korean who was both an escort and a guide to the journalists. The guide, identified as Kim Seong-cheol, together with the camera operator, Mitch Koss, managed to escape by running away from the captors. However, their arrest was also controversial. Laura and Lee admitted to crossing the border into North Korea for a short duration of time before heading back to China. They claim to have been arrested within the borders of China. These sentiments were echoed by YTN, a South Korean TV station that reported that the soldiers guarding the border actually crossed over to China and arrested Laura and Lee. However, Pastor Chun Ki-won, a refugee activist who had organized for their trip to China said in an interview that there was a high likelihood that the two had crossed into the territory of North Korea via the China-North Korea border crossing (Human Rights Watch, 69). The arrest of the two journalists ignited fresh tensions between the US and the isolated communist state. Alongside the issue of North Korea’s nuclear development, the detention of US citizens was the other major issue that caused major rifts between the two nations. North Korea, also referred to as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, has since the year 1994 been detaining citizens of the US. International relations analysts assert that the arrests are used by Pyongyang to gain advantage over the US, which has always been against North Korea’s nuclear development program and has slapped several sanctions on the country (Joo, 107). Laura and Lee, after their arrest, were consequently charged and convicted of being in the territory of North Korea illegally. Their charges were the illegal entry into North Korea and committing hostilities against the Korean nation. They were convicted by the highest court in North Korea and were thus unable to make any appeals to their case. The trial and sentencing was done quickly, and the two female journalists were committed to North Korea’s prison camps for a period of 12 years, with hard labor (Joo, 107). The prison camps are located in very harsh environments with prisoners subjected to numerous acts of torture, detention without a fair hearing, and executions. The manner under which the duo was quickly sentenced was a thorny issue. Laura, in an interview, said that they admitted to being in Korean territory under duress (Ling, 213). The sentencing was also conducted behind closed court doors, and total secrecy was maintained throughout the duration of the sentencing. The arrest of and detention of the Laura and Lee elicited global concerns and condemnation. Hillary Clinton, wife to former US president, Bill Clinton, called for their immediate release saying that their sentencing lacked a foundation. The two journalists, having been detained for a period of 6 months, were eventually pardoned by the North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-Il. This was after an unannounced visit by Bill Clinton to North Korea to specifically negotiate for their release, Clinton, in his message to Korea, apologized for the actions of the journalists. He apologized for the illegal infraction of North Korea by Laura and Lee (Alton, 320). In conclusion, journalism, like any other career, has its fair share of challenges. Journalists, especially foreign ones, undergo untold miseries in the pursuit of their careers. Laura Ling and Euna Lee, for instance, were arrested and detained in North Korea for the illegal entry into the Korean territory. It took the intervention of former US president Bill Clinton to secure their release. It is therefore pertinent that an international law be put in place to protect foreign journalists from unlawful arrest and detention while in foreign lands. Works Cited. Alton, David. Building Bridges: Is there hope for North Korea? Oxford: Lion Books. 2013. Print. Giles, Robert. Whats Next? The Problems and Prospects of Journalism. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. 2014. Print Human Rights Watch. Chinas Forbidden Zones. New York: Human Rights Watch. 2013. Print Joo, Seung-Ho. Peace Regime Building on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asian Security Cooperation. California: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. 2013. Print. Ling, Lisa. Somewhere Inside: One Sisters Captivity in North Korea and the Others Fight to Bring Her Home. New York: HarperCollins. 2011. Print. Read More