The 2009 detention of two American journalists by North Korea prompted a rare diplomatic mission by former U.S. President Bill Clinton to secure their release.
Key Facts
- Journalists detained
- Euna Lee and Laura Ling
- Employer
- Current TV (independent US station)
- Date of detention
- March 17, 2009
- Sentence imposed
- 12 years' hard labor
- Date of pardon
- August 5, 2009
- Diplomat securing release
- Former President Bill Clinton
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
On March 17, 2009, two American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, were working near the Tumen River on the China–North Korea border for Current TV. North Korean soldiers detained them; it remains disputed whether they had crossed into North Korean territory or were arrested on the Chinese side.
North Korean authorities charged Lee and Ling with illegal entry and, in June 2009, sentenced them each to twelve years of hard labor. Their imprisonment created a diplomatic standoff between the United States and North Korea, with no formal diplomatic relations between the two countries to facilitate negotiations.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned both journalists on August 5, 2009, the day after former U.S. President Bill Clinton arrived in Pyongyang on a publicly unannounced visit. The episode was notable as a rare instance of high-level, if unofficial, American engagement with North Korea resulting in a swift humanitarian resolution.