US journalists admit to smear campaign, says North Korea

September 3rd, 2009 BEIJING - The Chinese government Thursday disputed two US journalists' account of their capture at the border between China and North Korea, saying it believed that the two women were not seized on Chinese territory. "According to the understanding of relevant departments, they did not find the situation as you described it," foreign ministry spokesman Jiang Yu told reporters when asked about the journalists' claim that North Korean border guards chased them across the border before arresting them.

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 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.

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 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.

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 Report: 2 US journalists admit entering NKoreaSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's state-run news agency says that two American journalists sentenced last week to 12 years of labor admitted they crossed into the country illegally. The Korean Central News Agency said in a detailed report Tuesday that Laura Ling and Euna Lee of Current TV were arrested after crossing the Tumen River from China into North Korea.

June 16th, 2009 NKorea: US journalists planned 'smear campaign'SEOUL, South Korea — Two American journalists sentenced by North Korea last week to 12 years of hard labor were caught shooting video for what the North said was a politically motivated "smear campaign," state-run media said Tuesday. The reporting team from Current TV crossed the frozen Tumen River dividing North Korea and China three months ago and walked up the river bank — and then recorded their transgression, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

June 16th, 2009 NKorea: 2 US journalists planned 'smear campaign'SEOUL, South Korea — Two American journalists sentenced by North Korea last week to 12 years of hard labor were caught shooting video for what the North said was a politically motivated "smear campaign," state-run media said Tuesday. The reporting team from Current TV crossed the frozen Tumen River dividing North Korea and China three months ago and walked up the river bank — and then recorded their transgression, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

June 8th, 2009 Gibbs: 2 convicted journalists are innocentWASHINGTON — The White House says two U.S. journalists convicted and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in North Korea are innocent.

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.

May 26th, 2009 LONDON - The first woman to become the Oxford Professor of Poetry has resigned following allegation that she was involved in a smear campaign against a rival. Ruth Padel, a great-great granddaughter of Charles Darwin, insisted she had not engaged in smear tactics and had done "nothing intentional" to lead fellow contender Derek Walcott to pull out of the vote.

May 14th, 2009 PYONGYANG - A North Korean court will try two detained US journalists June 4, the state-run news agency reported Thursday. Euna Lee, a Korean-American, and Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, were detained March 17 near the Tumen River, which marks the border with China.

April 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US called on North Korea to release the two American journalists who are facing criminal charges in the Stalinist state. 'We continue to call on the North Koreans to release the two Americans so they can be returned to their families,' State Department acting spokesman Robert Wood said.

March 19th, 2009 SEOUL - Two US journalists have been detained by North Korean authorities, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported Thursday. The women journalists were detained two or three days ago near the Tumen River that borders China, Yonhap quoted unnamed sources as saying.