More on Euna Lee and Laura Ling, the American journalists who were detained last week in North Korea... The United Stats says that North Korea has "assured" Washington that the two women are being treated well, adding it was "aware" that they faced espionage charges: NKorea to treat detained journalists well: US.
I'm sorry, but do assurances from the North Korean government really comfort anyone? Unfortunately, for now, it's all we really have to go on. U.S. officials are pressing for the Swedish government to be provided with consular access to visit Lee and Ling, who work for Current TV.
In Seoul, a South Korean daily reported that North Korean intelligence officials are questioning the journalists and will likely try to persuade them to confess to spying. South Korea's National Intelligence Service, however, declined to comment, and an analyst said he doubted whether the pair would be charged with spying.
This is a mess. All of it, of course, happening under the shadow of rhetoric, rising tension and speculation overs an upcoming North Korean missile test, and the already-fragile state of six-party nuclear disarmament talks. The issues are supposedly separate... but you can't deny that things are in such a bad state right now, it could have an effect on the release of Euna Lee and Laura Ling.
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