Families of journalists anxious for release

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Recent reports that North Korea is considering releasing journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee have put the families of the two women on pins and needles as they wait for more information.

"Usually we don't get any news directly," Doug Ling, Laura Ling's father, who lives in the Sacramento area, said Sunday. "I first read that they might be released on the CNN ticker."

According to the Associated Press, North Korean officials told University of Georgia political scientist Han S. Park the United States should offer "a remorseful acknowledgement" of the journalists' reporting. In exchange, North Korea might free the women, although Park was careful to mention a statement of remorse would not guarantee their freedom.

He also told the South Korean English-language newspaper Joong Ang Daily that the journalists had not yet been transferred to a labor camp, as their sentence mandated, but were "doing fine at a guesthouse in Pyongyang."

Park, who specializes in East Asian politics and human rights, has visited North Korea on several prior occasions for academic reasons.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked for "amnesty" for the two journalists on Friday, a departure from her previous demands the two journalists be released on humanitarian grounds. Rather than offer an apology from the United States, Clinton offered an apology on behalf of the families.

"The two journalists and their families have expressed great remorse for this incident, and I think everyone is sorry that it happened," Clinton said Friday during a meeting with State Department employees. "What we hope for now is that these two young women would be granted amnesty through the North Korean system and be allowed to return home to their families as soon as possible."