U.S. urges N. Korea to free two American journalists

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, June 23 (Yonhap) -- The United States Tuesday urged North Korea to
release two American journalists sentenced to 12 years in a labor camp early this
month for illegal entry and an unspecified grave crime.

"We urge North Korea to grant the immediate release of the two journalists on
humanitarian grounds," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said in a daily news
briefing.
Kelly said that the Swedish ambassador in Pyongyang, Mats Foyer, met with Laura
Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for the San Fransisco-based Internet outlet Current
TV, earlier in the day in Pyongyang in the fourth such meeting since their
detention in March.
The Swedish envoy was denied access to their trial earlier this month, although
he represents U.S. interests in North Korea, which does not have diplomatic
relations with Washington.
They were detained by North Korean soldiers along the Chinese border on March 17
while working on a story about North Korean refugees.
In early June, the two reporters were sentenced by a North Korean court to 12
years in a labor camp for an unspecified "grave crime" and "illegal border
crossing."
"The Swedish ambassador, as you know, has met several times with the journalists,
and he met today with the journalists," Kelly said. "I don't have any more
details, except I know it happened in Pyongyang. We haven't gotten a full report
on it from the Swedish ambassador. But I want to just lay out the caveat that
even if we did have full details, I wouldn't be able to share them with you
because of privacy concerns."
The spokesman said that the Swedish ambassador has been "in constant contact with
the North Korean foreign ministry, is constantly pressing them for more
information about these two young women."
Kelly noted the remarks by U.S. Secretary of States Hillary Clinton that the U.S.
was pursuing many different avenues to get their release.
"This is a very important issue for us. Whenever U.S. citizens are in distress,
it is a top priority," he said. "But I also know that it's a very sensitive issue
and, you know, beyond calling for their immediate release, I don't want to really
characterize what other avenues we're pursuing."
Clinton said early this month the government was working "in every way open to us
to persuade the North Korean government to release the two journalists on a
humanitarian basis. We're going to continue to pursue every possible avenue."
She also said 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.
Clinton has warned the North not to link the journalists to the recent crisis
created by North Korea's second nuclear test last month, saying the issue "should
be viewed as a humanitarian matter."
"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," she said.
The U.N. Security Council has adopted a resolution to punish North Korea's
nuclear test, calling for an overall arms embargo and financial sanctions on
North Korea and banning the North from conducting further nuclear and ballistic
missile tests.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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