12 Years HARD LABOR

On the one hand it really wasn't unexpected that Laura Ling and Euna Lee received the sentence they did.

But, it appears they are being used as pawns in the on-going game of NK vs. the world.

Either they'll be released within days or weeks, or they'll be there for 12 looooooong years.

I have the image of the two of them with a big pick-ax chomping into some big rocks looking for who knows what.

Probably won't be making license plates.

Can't even imagine what their work camps are like.

They're going to have quite a story when they finally do get out. This will make their careers - I can see them doing the news shows, talk shows, Oprah, writing a book .... I can even see a movie being made about their capture and imprisonment.

Assuming they get out.

I still think this will be over by the end of the year, NK will release them as a "humanitarian" gesture. We will probably make some behind-the-scenes concessions or offers, something that makes them feel like they beat the "imperialists".

Who knows what Hard Labor means in the DPRK - concerning Laura and Euna it might just be more NK drama talk. Maybe they'll just end up painting traffic cop circles in Pyongyang intersections.

NK will do nothing. Clinton wrote them a letter, asking for their release, but NK will just laugh.
Supposedly Algore is going to negotiate for their release.

This is funny: http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/06/al_gore_may_head_to_north_kore.html
Al Gore stands on the Chinese side of the Yalu River. Eyes narrowed, he stares through the fog at the lifeless, unforgiving North Korean wasteland in the distance. He's tired of being pushed around — by the Supreme Court, by climate-change skeptics, and now, by North Korea's maddeningly unreasonable autocracy. President Obama may have sent him here on a diplomatic mission, but he's no longer willing to be a pawn in North Korea's international power plays. No, to bring his reporters home, he'll need to take matters into his own hands.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asks Rahm Emanuel, standing beside Gore on the banks of the Yalu.

"You know I do," Gore responds, taking a puff of what may very well be his last cigarette.

"Then take this." Emanuel reaches into his back pocket and hands Gore a steak knife, the one he carries with him at all times. "You may need it."

Gore takes the knife, his eyes still fixed on his destination across the river.

"I knew that if anyone would support me on this, it would be you," he says. He flicks his cigarette butt on the grass and steps on it, then picks it back up.

"Throw this out for me on your way home, will you?" he says, handing the butt to Emanuel. And with that, Gore steps into the murky waters and disappears.

Once on the other side, Gore gets his bearings and takes off running. Using his watch to coordinate an array of his personal satellites, he triangulates the position of the jungle prison where Ling and Lee are being held by locating the chips implanted in the shoulder of every Current TV employee. Gore moves swiftly, stealthily, toward his destination — his destiny.

At last, Gore spots the jail in the distance. It's guarded by at least 40 men, maybe 50. Gore is tired from running continuously for two straight days, but there's little time to waste. Hiding behind a conveniently placed drum of oil, he plots his next move. Suddenly, he spots a lone North Korean soldier walking nearby, and gets an idea. He leaps from behind the drum and, in one fell swoop, stabs the soldier in the jugular while simultaneously covering his mouth.

"Thanks, Rahm," he says as he wipes the steak knife on his pants, then places it back in his pocket. Gore quickly puts on the soldier's uniform and heads toward the prison's entrance, his preternatural calm and stoic demeanor allowing him to pass by without inviting attention from the other guards.

Once inside, Gore keeps his head down and follows the beacon on his watch. After a number of twists and turns, he's made it to the cell. He reaches into the uniform pocket of the soldier he recently killed with his bare hands, pulls out a key, and pushes open the creaky cell door. In the corner, still shrouded in the shadows, comes a voice — an American voice.

"Please, no," she says. "Please don't make us watch any more of Kim Jong Il's one-man reproductions of classic Hollywood musicals. We beg of you."

Gore takes a slow step forward, but his soldier's uniform disguises his identity.

"Are you Laura Ling and Euna Lee?" he asks.

"Yes ... " they respond warily.

"I'm Al Gore," he says. "And I'm here to take you home."

They got 12 years "Hard Labor" because of the weakness of the Chairman O administration. NK sees it is dealing with the ultimate pacifist, so therefore, they're not afraid of anything.

After reading some articles of what's in store for Laura and Euna, it's not encouraging. 50% of prisoners die within the first year in those prison camps.

At the same moment, NK is about to start the countdown of a launch of a new missile, according to Russian sources.

But...this is what you get when "diplomacy is the only way" even though it will probably fail.

So maybe in 12 years we'll hear their stories......if they're the 50% that's lucky.

Hey Catcher, that story is like Luke and Han rescuing Princess Leia. Maybe George Lucas can write a movie about this whole debacle.......in 12 years......

LOL - North Korea is not going to let their prize political prisoners die in captivity!

They are holding them so they can use them to get something they want. When they decide that releasing them is worth more than keeping them imprisoned, they will be released. What will be worth more? That's what negotiations - diplomacy - will decide, however hard that will be for the US to swallow.

Besides, lets put the blame for this whole mess squarely where it belongs - on Laura and Euna. It's obvious that they did cross into the DPRK, and if they didn't realize what the ramifications of that would be, then they are idiots. Sure, it was probably an accidental incursion, but still when you're snooping around that close to the NK border you should really be aware of it's exact location.

I agree that Laura and Euna simply should not have been prancing around the NK border. The demarcation line may not have been that apparent. But yes - they were taking a big risk by being there. But then again, risk is part of their business I guess.

After some thought, even though the smart thing would be to use them as pawns, and to hold them in a semi-safe place, I wouldn't put anything beyond the DPRK - and I think we should take their sentences of 12 years HARD LABOR seriously. No reason to think that they'll be doing anything less than their sentence. If they die, like you said, it will be blamed on them by NK!

Yeah, no doubt NK is a bit unpredictable and erratic, which I'm sure is exactly how they want to be percieved. It's too bad our roving reporters will have to deal with it now.

I heard North Korea has the video they shot which shows them knowingly crossing the border. 12 years.

Well....until we actually see it.....

Mayor_of_Pyongyang wrote:

Well....until we actually see it.....

What? You don't take North Korea's word for it? I believe everything they say.