Euna Lee
(Credit: Current TV)North Korean leader Kim Jong Il issued a "special pardon" to two Current TV journalists who were recently charged for perpetrating "hostile acts" against the communist state, according to various news reports.
We "are overjoyed by the news of their pardon," the journalists' families said in a statement.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton reportedly arrived in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Tuesday in a publicly unannounced visit to meet with Kim. During this meeting, the North Korean leader ordered the two prisoners released, according to the Associated Press.
"While this solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans is on the ground, we will have no comment," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement. "We do not want to jeopardize the success of former President Clinton's mission."
Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, were detained on the Chinese border on March 17 and convicted of sneaking into North Korea illegally. Working for Current TV, a San Francisco-based Internet news and video site co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore, they were reporting on North Korean refugees fleeing to China.
Laura Ling
(Credit: Current TV)In June, the journalists were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for "the political motive to isolate and stifle the socialist system," according to the Korean Central News Agency. Both Ling and Lee accepted the judgment.
This was Kim's first meeting with an American official since October 2000, when he met with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. After suffering a stroke last August, he has reportedly not met with Western officials from other countries either.
According to the Associated Press, the Korean Central News Agency said the release of the journalists is a sign of North Korea's "humanitarian and peace-loving policy." It is still not clear when the women will be allowed to leave, said The New York Times.
"We are so grateful to our government: President Obama, Secretary Clinton and the U.S. State Department for their dedication to and hard work on behalf of American citizens," Lee and Ling's families said in the statement. "We especially want to thank President Bill Clinton for taking on such an arduous mission and Vice President Al Gore for his tireless efforts to bring Laura and Euna home...We are counting the seconds to hold Laura and Euna in our arms."
The nonprofit Committee to Protect Journalists also welcomed the news of the journalists' pardon.
"This has been a long and complex process given the situation on the Korean peninsula," CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney said in a statement. "We thank former President Clinton for his intervention and we are grateful that the North Korean authorities have responded to appeals for clemency."
This post was updated at 3:45 p.m. PDT with comments from the journalists' families and again at 4:45 p.m. PDT with more details.
(Credit:
NKEW)
A Google Earth interactive Web site called North Korea Economy Watch not only sheds light on that country's economic, military, and cultural infrastructure, but also maps some of its darkest secrets.
The site is intended as a resource for business, policy makers, academics, journalists and others interested in the North Korean economy, according to founding editor Curtis Melvin. Academic in nature, it shies away from editorializing on hot potatoes issues like the manufacturing of nuclear weapons, and starving peasants.
But it's all there for viewers to form their own conclusions. Palatial mansions and vast compounds for Kim Jong Il and other honchos that include pool complexes and even a waterslide, contrast unfavorable with the austerity of the rest of the country.
Locations of interest run the gamut from anti-aircraft emplacements, military bases, nuclear facilities and prison camps ("The Barn' where the USS Pueblo crew were kept) to restaurants (Pyongyang Fried Chicken Restaurant) and items on dating and courting (defectors claim that prostitution is on the rise).
It also shows what is believed to be the mass graves of some of the estimated two million people who starved in the 1995-98 famine.
The site combines the founding editor's own painstaking research with material from independent contributors to deliver what some are calling one of the "most comprehensive mappings of North Korea that publicly exists today." For example, Melvin told the Wall Steet Journal that he spent hours in front of a computer screen just tracing power lines and looking for telltale shadows of electric towers in order to detail the country's electrical grid.
All posts are attributed to allow peer verification and reference, according to Melvin.
Google's advice on sidestepping a South Korean law against anonymous YouTube video postings and comments doesn't seem to be sitting well with some of the country's authorities.
Google, citing free-speech concerns, on Monday said it will comply with the Korean law--but by prohibiting uploads and comments rather than by requiring people to verify their identities. And it told people they could work around the constraint by visiting another country's version of the video-sharing site.
Now the backlash is beginning to set in, according to one Korean media report.
"Korea Communications Commission network policy official Hwang Cheol-jeung says that the commission will be examining whether or not Google has engaged in illegal activities in any of the various services it operates in South Korea," the Hankyoreh reported Friday, saying that could include many more Google activities than just YouTube.
The report also said Google's Korean chief, Lee Won-jin, defended the move on Korean TV. And an editorial in the same publication sided with Google, describing the law's origins in government's effort to "suppress criticism on the Internet" and calling the KCC's actions "childish."
Google didn't respond to a request for comment.
Citing free-speech concerns about an anonymity-blocking law in South Korea, Google has disabled the ability to upload YouTube videos or comment on them in the country.
"We believe that it is important for free expression that people have the right to remain anonymous, if they choose," the company said in a blog post that also tells people that they can get around the restriction by using a different country's version of the site.
A Korean law requires "real-name verification" for Internet services with more than 100,000 different daily users, Google said. Under the law, people must identify themselves with a name and identification number before they can upload video or post comments.
Google shared this translation of its Korean blog post, explaining the situation:
We have a bias in favor of people's right to free expression in everything we do. We are driven by a belief that more information generally means more choice, more freedom, and ultimately more power for the individual. We believe that it is important for free expression that people have the right to remain anonymous, if they choose.
Because of Real Name Verification Law in Korea, we have voluntarily disabled comments and video uploads when using YouTube in Korea with the Korea country setting, so you will not be required to verify your identity.
You will still be able to enjoy watching and sharing videos on YouTube. You may still upload videos and comments without proving your identity by choosing a non-Korean country setting from the top of any YouTube page.
We understand that this may affect your experience on YouTube. Thank you in advance for your understanding. We hope that you continue to enjoy and participate in the YouTube community.
(Via Google Blogoscoped.)
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