IPI urges N. Korea to free two American journalists

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Yonhap) -- The head of the International Press Institute Thursday urged North Korea to free two American journalists, detained for illegal entry, following the example of Iran, which recently released an American journalist convicted of espionage.

"Iran's trial of Roxana Saberi was a farce, but at least the appellate court did
the right thing in setting her free," David Dadge, director of the IPI, the
global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, said in a
statement.
Dadge called on North Korea to "avoid more political theater and do the same with
Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who are innocent victims of North Korea's desire to gain
political leverage in its ongoing negotiations with the United States."
Saberi had been fasting in recent days at an Iranian prison cell in protest
against the eight-year sentence given to her for espionage. She was detained in
January for not possessing a proper identification card as a legitimate foreign
correspondent.
North Korea said earlier in the day that the reporters will be put to trial on
June 4 on charges of illegal entry and "hostile acts."
Lee and Ling, from Current TV, a San Francisco-based Internet outlet, face up to
20 years in prison if convicted of espionage under the North Korean criminal
code, unlike illegal entry, which is punishable by a few years' imprisonment.
The journalists were reportedly taken by North Korean soldiers March 17 along the
Tumen River on the Chinese border while filming the North Korean side.
Some analysts say North Korea may try to use the reporters as a means of
establishing bilateral contact with the U.S. amid escalating tensions since its
rocket launch April 5.
North Korea has said it will abandon the six-party talks with South Korea, the
U.S., China, Japan and Russia on ending its nuclear programs in response to a
U.N. Security Council rebuke for the launch, which Pyongyang says was part of a
legitimate space program to orbit a satellite.
Pyongyang has also threatened to conduct further nuclear and ballistic missile
tests and restart its disabled nuclear facilities unless the Security Council
apologizes.
U.S. President Barack Obama last week expressed concerns about the American
journalists held in North Korea and Iran, saying he was "especially concerned
about the citizens from our own country currently under detention abroad:
individuals such as Roxana Saberi in Iran, and Euna Lee and Laura Ling in North
Korea."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, wrote a letter to the Iranian
appeals court recently to urge it to be fair in the Saberi case.
The Swedish ambassador in Pyongyang visited the American reporters on March 30,
U.S. officials said, adding that the U.S. government has been in negotiations
with North Koreans and relevant governments to secure their release.
The Swedish embassy handles consular affairs involving American citizens in North
Korea, as Washington does not have diplomat relations with the reclusive
communist state.
Two Americans were detained in North Korea briefly in the 1990s before being
released after visits to Pyongyang by Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, then a
U.S. congressman.
In 1994, North Korea detained a U.S. pilot whose military chopper was shot down
after straying across the border. Another American citizen, Evan Hunziker, was
held for three months in 1996 on suspicion of spying after swimming the Yalu
River bordering North Korea and China.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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