Obama urged to do more for early release of reporters held in N. Korea

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, June 10 (Yonhap) -- A group of U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to
President Barack Obama on Wednesday urging the administration to expedite efforts
to secure the early release of two American journalists imprisoned in North
Korea.

Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) sent the letter signed by 24 members of congress,
including himself, asking Obama "pursue every avenue to secure" the release of
Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for the San Fransisco-based Internet outlet
Current TV, Royce said in a statement.
North Korea said Monday that the two reporters were sentenced by its highest
court to 12 years in a labor camp for an unspecified "grave crime" and "illegal
border crossing."
They were detained by North Korean soldiers along the Chinese border on March 17
while working on a story about North Korean refugees.
"One of President Obama's highest priorities must be to protect American
citizens," the lawmakers said. "President Obama himself must be personally
involved and see to it that every avenue to secure the release of these two brave
young women is pursued."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday she was doing all she could
to win the release of the detained journalists.
"We are working, as I said yesterday, in every way open to us to persuade the
North Korean government to release the two journalists on a humanitarian basis,"
Clinton told reporters. "We're going to continue to pursue every possible
avenue."
Clinton told an ABC program Sunday that she had sent a letter to North Korea to
seek the release of the reporters and apologize for their illegal border
crossing.
Reports said that the U.S. has already proposed sending former U.S. Vice
President Al Gore, chairman of Current TV, or New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to
North Korea to negotiate the release of the journalists.
Richardson visited Pyongyang in 1994 and 1996 while serving in Congress to
successfully negotiate the release of two Americans held in the North.
Asked about the possibility of either Gore or Richardson making the trip, Clinton
said Monday, "I'm not going to go into our private diplomatic efforts."
The Swedish ambassador in Pyongyang, Mats Foyer, has met with the journalists
three times, but was denied access to their trial, which began last Thursday.
Foyer represents U.S. interests in North Korea, which does not have diplomatic
relations with Washington.
Clinton has warned the North not to link the journalists to the recent crisis
created by North Korea's second nuclear test last month.
"We think the imprisonment, trial and sentencing of Laura and Euna should be
viewed as a humanitarian matter," she said Monday. "There are other concerns that
we and the international community have with North Korea, but those are separate
and apart from what's happening to the two journalists."
The U.N. Security Council is seeking arms embargoes and financial sanctions on
North Korea for its May 25 nuclear test.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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