Laura Ling spoke at a town hall lecture for the Montgomery Women’s Club.
She discussed the drug rings in Mexico and other stories she covered, but most importantly, the 140 days she was held in North Korea until President Clinton helped free her and another journalist.
“President Clinton later told me that when he visited with North Norea’s leader Kim Jung Il, he told President Clinton when Kim Jung il’s father passed away, President Clinton was the first leader to call him to offer his condolences even before Kim’s own allies, and that really had an impact on Kim Jung Il, and to think that could be one of the reasons why we were released is pretty astonishing to me,” Ling said.
Ling said that while the issues on the Korean peninsula are very serious and unpredictable, she has hope in diplomacy and the people there.
President Clinton was the first leader to call him to offer his condolences even before Kim's own allies, and that really had an impact on Kim Jung Il, and to think that could be one of the reasons why we were released is pretty astonishing to me," Ling said. Ling said that while the issues on the Korean peninsula are very serious and unpredictable, she has hope in diplomacy and the people there.
Read her book. Why, when arrested by the boarder guards did they go through her things several times but leave her notes and camera tapes with her. Doesn’t make any sense. She said they were able to destroy the tapes and eat the notes. Seems the guards took just about everything which wasn’t sensitive.
Why, when these notes and tapes contained sensitive information which could lead to the arrest and potential execution of the North Korean defectors who were the subjects of interviews, were they taken anywhere near the boarder. They should have been sent back.
She should really be ashamed of herself for being so irresponsible and putting not only her own life in danger but those of others.