China disputes US journalists’ account of North Korea capture

September 3rd, 2009 Beijing denies NKorea seized US reporters in ChinaBEIJING — China on Thursday rejected claims by two U.S. journalists that North Korean guards had crossed into Chinese territory to grab and drag them back into North Korea.

September 2nd, 2009 Freed reporters say they were dragged into NKoreaSAN FRANCISCO — Two American television reporters imprisoned in North Korea for months say communist soldiers "violently dragged" them back when they returned to Chinese soil after briefly crossing into the reclusive country. In an article posted Tuesday on Current TV's Web site, Laura Ling and Euna Lee said they hesitantly followed their guide when he beckoned them across a frozen river into the North and were "firmly back" on the Chinese side when North Korean border guards grabbed them on March 17.

September 2nd, 2009 LOS ANGELES - The two US journalists captured and held in North Korea for months before being released last month revealed the first details of their ordeal Wednesday. Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for Current TV, wrote on its website that they were captured March 17 after briefly crossing a frozen river that marked the border between China and North Korea and which was often used as a human trafficking route.

September 1st, 2009 Freed reporters describe North Korea ordealSAN FRANCISCO — The two American television reporters imprisoned in North Korea for 4 1/2 months said Tuesday that they never intended to cross a frozen river into the communist country. In an article posted on Current TV's Web site, Laura Ling and Euna Lee said they hesitantly followed their guide when he beckoned them across the waterway and were "firmly back" on the Chinese side when North Korean border guards grabbed them on March 17.

August 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama Tuesday met Bill Clinton at the White House to discuss the former president's trip to North Korea earlier this month. Clinton had gone to North Korea to secure the release of two US journalists who had been held there for months, and the White House said at the time that the 42nd president would soon debrief Obama on the trip.

August 5th, 2009 LOS ANGELES - Former US President Bill Clinton arrived early Wednesday morning at Burbank Airport near Los Angeles, California, after his mission gaining the release of two pardoned American journalists who had been detained since March in North Korea. Clinton, Laura Ling and Euna Lee had flown from Pyongyjang after the ex-president's previously unannounced 20-hour visit during which he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who pardoned the two journalists.

August 5th, 2009 Clinton departs North Korea with journalistsWASHINGTON — Bill Clinton's spokesman says the former president has left North Korea with two American journalists who had been held hostage. Matt McKenna said late Tuesday that Clinton has "safely left North Korea with Laura Ling and Euna Lee." He said they're flying to Los Angeles, where the journalists will be reunited with their families.

August 5th, 2009 Richardson: Freed journalists a win for both sidesWASHINGTON — Gov. Bill Richardson says both the United States and North Korea can cite victory from the high-level talks that sprang two American journalists from jail in the reclusive communist country.

July 11th, 2009 NEW YORK - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is hopeful that two American journalists detained by North Korea on charges of illegally entering the country will be granted amnesty. Clinton on Friday said "everyone is very sorry" about an incident that resulted in North Korea detaining two US journalists.

June 16th, 2009 SEOUL - Two US journalists jailed in North Korea have admitted their part in a "smear campaign" against the country, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Tuesday. They entered the country illegally with the aim of making films to misrepresent North Korea's human rights policy, the report said.

June 8th, 2009 LONDON - North Korea has sentenced two US journalists to 12 years hard labour in prison for "hostile acts" against the rogue state. Euna Lee and Laura Ling were captured on March 17, while working on a television documentary about North Korean exiles crossing the border into China.

June 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US Monday called on North Korea to release two US women journalists who were held for illegally entering that country on humanitarian grounds. "We call on the North Korean authorities to release the two young ladies, allow them to be reunited with their families, and we're very, very focused on that right now," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.

June 4th, 2009 SEOUL - Two American journalists will go on trial in North Korean capital Pyongyang on Thursday. The great question is the degree to which Laura Ling and Euna Lee have unwittingly become pawns in a huge bargaining game since North Korean soldiers picked them up on March 17 as they were filming along China's Tumen River border with North Korea.

May 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - China, which has been leading the effort o restart six party talks with Russia, US, Japan, South and North Korea - is walking a tightrope after Pyongyang conducted a nuclear test. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said China is "resolutely opposed" to the North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

April 2nd, 2009 BEIJING - Two American television reporters detained in North Korea are facing the possibility of remaining in a forced labour camp for ten years if they are convicted on espionage charges, the media rights organisation Reporters Without Borders RSF) has said. The two women journalists Euna Lee, a Korean-American, and Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, were arrested two weeks ago after straying across North Korea's northwestern border with China while on assignment.