Monday May 28, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Freed reporters say they were dragged into N Korea

World Sep. 03, 2009 - 04:49AM JST ( 20 )

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20 Comments

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smithinjapanSep. 03, 2009 - 09:57AM JST

Sounds like their ordeal was pretty horrible, and would have been worse if not rescued by Clinton and the current WH, but there's a lot of he said/she said going on, and it's hard to know whom to believe. The guide sounds dodgy indeed, if you can trust these ladies' accounts. Ultimately, though, they DID cross into NK territory, even if only for a minute, and that was the dumbest move.

Anyway, they've got a story to tell and more media than they could have ever dreamed of. I'm happy they're safe, and hope they get some therapy for the trauma.
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LFRAgainSep. 03, 2009 - 10:24AM JST

I'm feeling quite the opposite here, Smith. One part of me certainly sympathizes with these women for having to go through such a traumatic ordeal. Imprisonment in North Korea cannot have been a picnic. But after seeing them speak publicly about their ordeal, it seems more than apparent to me that they're looking at this incredible lapse of judgment on their part as an opportunity to recast two rather inexperienced junior reporters in desperate need of seasoning as some sort of battle-hardened veterans returning triumphant from the maw of death. As if.

These vague hints at suffering “too painful to revisit publicly,” (which they will revisit at some point. It's a certainty) along with earlier media statements that may as well have been, “We’ll speak in greater detail about our terrifying, horrific, life-changing ordeal when the details of a book deal become clearer,” come across as blatantly orchestrated dissemination of information to better jockey for a shot at Pulitzer-like recognition for their “sacrifices.”

These two twits, through an irresponsible act of personal and journalistic naivety, not to mention ill-considered personal ambition, caused the United States, and the entire 6-party process to de-nuclearize the Korean Peninsula, no small amount of trouble with their antics.
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smithinjapanSep. 03, 2009 - 11:03AM JST

LFRAgain: I'm not defending them in the least, don't get me wrong. They ultimately chose to go into NK, as I said, and that was a terrible choice (to put it mildly) that could have resulted in much worse consequences (particularly if some of the more aggressive posters on this site had their way and the US went in guns-a-blazin'). As it is, they and everyone else were quite lucky.

I also have no doubt they are bilking their experiences, and hence my statement that they've got a story and more media than they could hope for.

I STILL am glad that they are safe, as I would be for pretty much any human being.
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USNinJapan2Sep. 03, 2009 - 11:13AM JST

I would have been fine had we just left them there indefinitely to reflect on their stupidity. Only thing better would have been if Al Gore took their place as prisoner...
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YelnatsSep. 03, 2009 - 12:10PM JST

Half way across the ice put them in NK territory. Dumb move on their part.
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LFRAgainSep. 03, 2009 - 12:42PM JST

Smith,

I agree that it's good that they were able to return home safely. I don't think abject stupidity is necessarily something that needs to be punished as harshly as by being locked up indefinitely in a North Korean prison.

But there's just something about their story and the way they're milking the media that rubs me wrong . . .

On the plus side though, we're now far less likely to be seeing these two snatched up by, say, the Taliban after snooping around the Afghanistan-Pakistani border, looking to provide a "gritty, hard-hitting exposé on the untold horrors of Islamic extremism ©" in the foreseeable future. I'm always an optimist.
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adaydreamSep. 03, 2009 - 12:47PM JST

They were too close to the NK border to begin with. < :-)
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AlphaapeSep. 03, 2009 - 01:02PM JST

This article didn't mention the fact that they took pictures of children of NK women who were forced into sex work in China that were staying in the home of a missionary that they had been staying with. When asked by the missionary not to take the children's photo's they did anyway (it would make a much more heart tugging story) and when the NK's confiscated the film, they passed it on China who promptly had the missionary arrested.

Here's a link to just one of the "other stories" about what messes they have caused: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125107212590852551.html

Glad they are back, but I thing that we are getting just one side of the story.
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adaydreamSep. 03, 2009 - 01:12PM JST

Alphaape I read your link and I think this is propoganda and usage of what happened to milk contributors for more money. Just my interpretation. < :-)
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timorborderSep. 03, 2009 - 02:47PM JST

Possibly a case of dumb and dumber. Luckily Cowboy Bill rode into Pyongyang to save their butt or they might never have been heard of again.
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lostrune2Sep. 03, 2009 - 05:02PM JST

So... the NK soldiers violated China's territory by conducting an arrest on Chinese soil?

At least the bad missionary got arrested, if that's story is true.

But there's still the plight of the NK women....
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LFRAgainSep. 03, 2009 - 05:47PM JST

I'd say there's still the plight of the entire North Korean populace.
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SuperLibSep. 03, 2009 - 06:54PM JST

What a couple of idiots. They should be fined for stupidity.
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adaydreamSep. 03, 2009 - 08:37PM JST

SuperLib, we agree on this one. < :-)
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BadseySep. 03, 2009 - 09:17PM JST

This story seems very far-fetched, but at least they are not claiming their "souls went to Venus"
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maglev101Sep. 03, 2009 - 10:04PM JST

What a couple of idiots. They should be fined for stupidity.

yeah, the nerve of them to go do a story about the plight of these people so the rest of the world can read/know about it.
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BeelzebubSep. 03, 2009 - 11:07PM JST

There are lots of journalists who engage in shameless self promotion. Despite their purportedly noble cause, I find their motives to be suspect. If they hadn't been arrested they would have almost certainly inflated their report with claims they had "sneaked into North Korea" in order to fluff out its credibility. Then they would have flaunted it as a journalistic "coup" and it would probably not have been challenged by their colleagues or the public. It was a roll of the dice and they lost. A lot of what passes for investigative reporting is fabrication and exaggeration.
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usaexpatSep. 03, 2009 - 11:20PM JST

I still wanted to trade Al Gore for these two. He could have helped the Dear Leader address global warming.
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LFRAgainSep. 03, 2009 - 11:55PM JST

the nerve of them to go do a story about the plight of these people so the rest of the world can read/know about it.

The world already knows about the plight of the people of North Korea. We've known how bad it is since the 80s. Where've you been?

The mess in Korea is a primary reason why the 6-Party talks to get the North Korean regime to relenquish its nuclear arsenal are so delicate. We can't exactly help anyone in a country that threatens interference with nuclear armageddon.

These two were painfully stupid in what they did.
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USNinJapan2Sep. 04, 2009 - 12:02AM JST

maglev101

yeah, the nerve of them to go do a story about the plight of these people so the rest of the world can read/know about it.

And what critical new scoup do you expect they could have gotten in their single minute on North Korean soil? Riiiight.