Report: US 'Gesture' Could Win Reporters' Release.

[elleng]

Source: nyt/ap

North Korea might release two convicted American journalists if the United States offers a gesture such as an official apology, a U.S.-based scholar who visited Pyongyang said in interviews published Friday.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee were detained in March near the North Korean border with China and sentenced last month to 12 years of hard labor for entering the country illegally and for ''hostile acts.'' The two work for former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's California-based Current TV media group.

University of Georgia political scientist Han Park said that the two are being kept at a guest house in the North Korean capital and the delay in sending them to a prison labor camp may be an attempt to seek talks with Washington on their release.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/07/10/world/AP-AS-NKorea-Journalists-Held.html

[kirby]

1. I know of a gesture we can offer... n/t

[Dr.Phool]

4. Probably the same one I'd offer.

Hint: It ain't the bird.

[zonkers]

2. North Korea badly needs real leadership now.

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Trouble with an "apology" is that North Korea could drag this on

for a while until it gets the "right kind" of apology, i.e., sorry the U.S. invaded your country in 1951, etc.

[ohio2007]

8. NK needs food but the inner circle can hang on a few months longer then the peasants. situation is;

they can't hang on forever if big brother China doesn't feed them.

Getting Obama to "admit" he sent these two on a spy mission is out of the question.
Barack doesn't need to bend over and kiss the dear leaders ass. Best to ignore him and let the strokes do him in.

[JonQ]

5. Why should we apologize for them

arresting two reporters on trumped up charges?

And if we do begin offering them concessions, doesn't that encourage them to kidnap and threaten jail/torture/death on more people in the future? If it works once there's no reason to assume it won't work again.

[pinniped]

6. Just send NK a sternly worded letter.

.

[Cha]

7. Rec'd~ These two reporters for Current tv

need to come home.

[ohio2007]

9. What kind of deal did they make in order to get "one phone call" ?

U.S. reporter jailed in North Korea calls sister

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3961182

Kim must be running out of wild cards to play but imho, the women knew the risk they were about to take well before they got caught.
Getting "caught on purpose" in order to make some sort of "statement" doesn't make any sense.

[Cha]

10. Kick

:kick:

[Lagomorph]

11. We didn't send them there, or tell them what to do...

There is no reason to apologize. They exercised their freedom to place themselves at the mercy of an oppressive regime, who wants to use them as though they are cards in a game, but this isn't a game. I hope we don't fall into this trap.

[clixtox]

12. Big Bleeping Deal! Apologize to the North Koreans!

Why not! It doesn't actually mean anything.

The USA has been demonizing North Korea and their wacky leaders for generations. we are the ones driving them crazy. We are the country that sees NK as part of the "axis of evil".

What B.S.!

We, the USA, this is the hub of any supposed axis of evil extant today. We are the ones, along with the coalition of the billing, invading and occupying whole countries. We are the ones kidnapping and torturing innocent "suspects". We are the ones using "drones" to overfly sovereign nations while sending missiles and murdering supposed enemies without trial or any due process. That's murder folks, we don't make friends doing stuff like that.

Our "founding fathers" would be considered terrorists today by our standard.

Now it seems there might be, or until very recently, there were "hit men" or "hit squads" tasked by the usurper Dick Cheney with murdering supposed terrorists. One person's terrorist os another's freedom fighter.

North Korea is a convenient villain for American military-industrial fear mongers, the merchants of death.

In reality North Korea is a paper tiger without the resources, will or support to mount any attack anywhere, including on South Korea.

As in Cuba, we are being bamboozled and stirred up for who knows what sort of atrocities justified by us sheeple's irrational, albeit manufactured, fear.

Just like in Venezuela, our corporate masters don't abide any diminution of the blood money squeezed out of the exploited masses while stealing their resources, that resistance sets a bad precedent and might give others the right ideas.

[denem]

13. Suggestion: Fox offers en exchnge for Glen Beck and Sean Hannity

and a starring role for the dear leader in a reality TV show of his choice.