Another possibility, which I incline to, is that Ling and Lee may have been sold to North Korea by a local guide. If the guide said that it was safe to cross, or that they were still on Chinese territory, they would have believed him. Moreover, by some accounts they were working on a story about human trafficking -- there's a good deal of trafficking of North Korean women and girls into China, into prostitution and to be wives of peasants -- and the traffickers could well have tricked them in exchange for a reward from North Korea. A couple of years ago, I set up an interview with a trafficker in that border area, but then backed out when he demanded money; the traffickers may realize that the people to demand money from aren't the journalists but the North Korean officials. And at a time of crisis, when it is undergoing a leadership transition and a confrontation with the West, North Korea would probably pay well for a few extra bargaining chips in the form of American journalists.It's a frightening thought, but the facts sort of add up. Laura Lee and Euna Lee were arrested at the China/North Korea border in March, accused of illegal entry and unspecified "hostile acts," and sentenced earlier this month to twelve years in a labor camp.
The general belief is that they'll eventually be released, but not before North Korea uses them as a propaganda victory, until finally releasing them a to high-ranking visitor (Al Gore, are you out there?)... but with tensions high on the Korean peninsula, as well as the confounding swirl of internal politics, who the hell knows when we'll see that happen?
