Seized U.S. journalists become 'hostages' in N. Korea crisis

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Seized U.S. journalists become 'hostages' in N. Korea crisis

By Tim Johnson | McClatchy Newspapers


BEIJING — When American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee fell into the hands of North Korean border guards two weeks ago, vanishing into the maw of the most isolated nation on Earth, their fate drew concern.

Now the complications are growing.

North Korea appears days — maybe hours — away from test-firing a missile carrying what it asserts is a satellite. Reports say that North Korea is fueling the multi-stage ballistic missile at a launch site in its northeast.

In London on Thursday, President Barack Obama met on the sidelines of the G-20 summit with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, and the two called for "stern, unified action" if the North goes ahead with its launch, the first since 2006, the same year it tested a nuclear device.

Ling and Lee, journalists for former Vice President Al Gore's media venture Current TV, based in San Francisco, have become pawns in a global chess match.

"The girls have become hostages, and a lot of things will depend on high politics," said Andrei N. Lankov, a North Korea specialist at Kookmin University in Seoul and one of the last people whom the two Asian-American journalists contacted before they traveled to North Korea's border with China to investigate the situation of refugees.

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[babylonsister]

1. First posted 7:42 this morning. No one? nt