Laura Ling and Euna Lee, two American journalists sentenced to 12 years of hard labor (and later pardoned) for crossing into North Korea from China, are finally speaking out and telling their side of the story.
The piece "Hostages in the Hermit Kingdom" is posted on the Current TV website. The two were working for the company and reporting on human trafficking for when captured.
Ling and Lee talk about the moments before their capture:
There were no signs marking the international border, no fences, no barbed wire. But we knew our guide was taking us closer to the North Korean side of the river...
...When we set out, we had no intention of leaving China, but when our guide beckoned for us to follow him beyond the middle of the river, we did, eventually arriving at the riverbank on the North Korean side. He pointed out a small village in the distance where he told us that North Koreans waited in safe houses to be smuggled into China via a well-established network that has escorted tens of thousands across the porous border.
Feeling nervous about where we were, we quickly turned back toward China. Midway across the ice, we heard yelling. We looked back and saw two North Korean soldiers with rifles running toward us. Instinctively, we ran.
We were firmly back inside China when the soldiers apprehended us. Producer Mitch Koss and our guide were both able to outrun the border guards. We were not. We tried with all our might to cling to bushes, ground, anything that would keep us on Chinese soil, but we were no match for the determined soldiers. They violently dragged us back across the ice to North Korea and marched us to a nearby army base, where we were detained.
The two go on to recount their time in captivity, what they did to protect their sources and sanity. And more importantly, point out:
...We do not want our story to overshadow the critical plight of these desperate defectors.
Since our release, we have become aware that the situation along the China-North Korea border has become even more challenging for aid groups and that many defectors are going deeper underground. We regret if any of our actions, including the high-profile nature of our confinement, has led to increased scrutiny of activists and North Koreans living along the border. The activists' work is inspiring, courageous and crucial.
Read the entire account on the Current TV website.