Ling and Lee trial starts in North Korea

The trial of American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who worked for Al Gore’s Current TV, started today in North Korea. The two were arrested in March along the North Korea-China border, apparently reporting on the refugee situation. Pyongyang has charged them with "hostile acts" and espionage. If convicted, they face five to ten ...

The trial of American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who worked for Al Gore's Current TV, started today in North Korea.

The trial of American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who worked for Al Gore’s Current TV, started today in North Korea.

The two were arrested in March along the North Korea-China border, apparently reporting on the refugee situation. Pyongyang has charged them with "hostile acts" and espionage. If convicted, they face five to ten years in one of the country’s feared labor camps.

North Korea gains some leverage over the U.S. and its allies by holding the women. In the past weeks, the country has stoked tensions by engaging in some serious saber-rattling, testing a series of missiles and a nuclear bomb; it’s provoked South Korea to begin fortifying the militarized border and moving warships into better strategic positions. 

I’m more and more concerned by the situation, in which Lee and Ling are pawns in a reckless, needless game of military embrinkmanship. The easy answer here is, of course, that North Korea should simply stop testing missiles and join in six-party talks.

But since that situation is unlikely, it’s China that needs to step up here. They have the best relationship with Pyongyang, much at stake, and the best opportunity to assuage the tensions.

Annie Lowrey is assistant editor at FP.

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