Laura Ling and Euna Lee's release from North Korea was the big story yesterday and I was glued to all the news clips and videos all day. There's just something about this particular story that moves me. Isn't it an unwritten law that journalists are always granted amnesty and access to war-torn countries, battle zones, and politically unstable places in order to get their story? That's why you see journalists reporting live broadcasts from Iraq or Israel in the height of bombings and shootings. Certainly on occasion, truly evil people will kidnap or imprison some of them for their own blackmail missions. But for the most part, journalists are untouched.
The thing about this story is that these two didn't actually do anything to warrant 12 years in a hard labour camp. I'm not sure about the details but I think I read that they were caught near the North Korean border. I don't know if they were trying to get across the border illegally or not, but if so, then at the most, I could understand arresting them and holding them for maybe a month or something like that, or maybe charging them a huge fine. But 12 years hard labour? That's insane.
But of course this is a Kim Jong Il's country, so insane is normal. I feel really sorry for the citizens of North Korea. You can say that a country is evil, but people confuse a country's political system & policies with its citizens, who may not have anything to do with choosing its leaders. Especially in a dictatorship run by a creepy douchebag, the people living in North Korea obviously have their hands tied and would love to get out if possible.
Anyway, I think this situation has made people look more carefully at North Korea and Kim Jong Il, and what can happen when you let irrational egomanical morons run a country. And yes, it's a good reminder that those of us living in democracies should thank our lucky stars that we don't have to endure those kinds of injustices on a daily basis.
Although Bill Clinton is the face of the humanitarian mission here, I heard that it was the Swedish Ambassor to North Korea who was instrumental in getting the ball rolling. Smart move to send Clinton over though. That man has the kind of personality that can diffuse any situation, obviously. The thing is, with all of this, it puts the spotlight on Clinton again and it kind of feels like the man is the president again. For a second there, I was like, oh yeah, Obama's actually the president right now. It feels like Obama wasn't part of this at all and I'm not sure why that is.
But Clinton is like a superstar again and rightfully so. It really is a shame that American presidents can only serve two terms. But then, if they can stay involved in major issues like these, then I guess that's even better. For Laura Ling & Euna Lee though, I'm sure they're one of the few people in this world who can say that Bill Clinton saved their lives, and that's pretty cool.
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