IPI welcomes the release of US journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were detained on March, 17 close to the North Korean border with China and had been sentenced to 12 years hard labour. They have been released after surprise visit of former US President Bill Clinton, who met with the country’s leader, Kim Jong Il. According to the information given to IEPF by IPI, the plane carrying the former President and the two journalists has already arrived at Burbank airport, near Los Angeles. IPI Deputy Director Michael Kudlak, who welcomes Bill Clinton’s action, expressed his gladness on the meetig of the two journalists with their families:
“This was a complex case with political ramifications. Our concern, from the begining, was that Laura Ling and Euna Lee were being used as political pawns in North Korea’s nuclear standoff with the United States”.
Information Department of
International Eurasia Press Fund