TV Journalists Held in North Korea Are Finally Home

By Germain Lussier on August 5th, 2009

Laura Ling and Eura Lee, TV journalists who were detained in North Korea for five months after being caught making a documentary on human trafficking, came home this morning after former President Bill Clinton flew to the country and won their freedom.

“Thirty hours ago, Euna Lee and I were prisoners in North Korea,” Ling said in statement after she got off a plane in Burbank, CA. “We feared that at any moment we could be prisoners in a hard labor camp. Then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting. We were taken to a location and when we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton. We were shocked, but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end. And now we stand here home and free.”

The women were originally sentenced to 12 years hard labor for “illegally entering” North Korean territory. The government said they were pardoned because President Clinton apologized on their behalf to infamous leader Kim Jong-il.

Ling and Lee work for Current TV, a small San Francisco based station that was founded by Al Gore, who was Clinton’s Vice President. Ling’s sister is former host of “The View” and current “Oprah” correspondent Lisa Ling. She is married to Ian Clayton. Lee is married to actor Michael Saldate. They flew back on the private jet of one Steve Bing, the owner of Shangri-La Entertainment, who is a personal friend of Clinton’s.