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Ling Speaks to Sister Held in North Korea

CNN
posted: 8 HOURS 10 MINUTES AGO
comments: 189
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(July 9) -- After weeks of silence, the sister of one of the two American journalists imprisoned in North Korea finally got a phone call.
"It was only the first time I had heard her voice in weeks. ... I was so relieved but I feel so helpless," Lisa Ling, a CNN contributor, told affiliate KOVR in an interview Wednesday. "Because as an older sister, a best friend, a self-professed 'doer,' it's just difficult to know I cannot do anything to bring her home."
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Ling said she spoke to her sister, Laura Ling, over the phone Tuesday night. Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced in June to 12 years in prison on charges of illegally entering the country to conduct a smear campaign.
Lisa Ling is hoping the arrests will push the United States and the reclusive communist nation to engage in diplomatic talks.
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"I know that our government has been working behind the scenes very hard trying to bring the girls back home," she said. But she added, "Our countries don't talk, and perhaps this could be a reason."
She said her sister "was very specific about the message that she was communicating, and she said, 'Look, we violated North Korean law and we need our government to help us. We are sorry about everything that has happened, but we need diplomacy.'"
Ling said that without being able to look at her sister, it was difficult to tell how she was doing. She described the past few weeks as being engulfed in a "terrifying and deafening" silence.
The two detainees -- who are reporters for California-based Current TV, a media venture of former U.S. Vice President Al Gore -- were arrested while reporting on the border between North Korea and China.
The North's state media released a "detailed report" last month, saying that Ling and Lee entered the country illegally to record material for a "smear campaign" against the reclusive communist state.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the United States is seeking the immediate release of the two journalists on humanitarian grounds.
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© 2009 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
2009-07-09 10:26:03
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TAXGUY527

07:04 PMJul 09 2009

MEMO TO EVERY INTELLIGENT FREE-THINKING AMERICAN, and TO OBAMA: CAP & TRADE IS PERHAPS THE MOST ANTI-FREE MARKET, ANTI-AMERICAN LEGISLATION EVER SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED BY CONGRESS. FURTHER, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO CREDIBLE EVIDENCE THAT ANYTHING WE DO WILL SUBSTANTIALLY CHANGE OR STOP "GLOBAL WARMING". FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS BEFORE MAN, THERE HAVE BEEN MAJOR NATURAL CYLES OF GLOBAL COOLING AND WARMING. DON'T ATTACK AND BURDEN THE AMERICAN BUSINESSES WHICH PROVIDE JOBS AND A HIGH STANDARD OF LIVING IN THE USA, FOR SOMETHING WHICH MAY "FEEL GOOD" BUT HAS NO CHANCE OF MAKING ANY REAL STATISTICAL DIFFERENCE IN GLOBAL WARMING. THIS WILL EXPORT EVEN MORE JOBS OUT OF AMERICA, ALL FOR ALMOST NO MEASURABLE CLIMATE IMPROVEMENT. CALL YOUR SENATOR. VOTE NO.

AVG RATING:
(3)

SuaveChicJG

06:46 PMJul 09 2009

I wish somebody would shove a nuclear missile up Kim Jong's ass. Hey Jong, test this!!

AVG RATING:
(3)

HFW Supply

06:24 PMJul 09 2009

Jmvic123exit a stone is smarter than you al gore is her boss

AVG RATING:
(3)

CrossRabbSwitch

06:22 PMJul 09 2009

Al Gore could buy the release of these women. But he has principles, especially when we are talking about HIS money. Remember Ross Perot? He had some employees in an Iranian jail, and he spent his money, formed a small army and went over there and got them. Remember when the Fox reporter was kidnapped by the Palestinians? They pulled the strings on every Arab country, and convinced the Palestinians to release him. But old Al is just lost. And his buddy Obama won't do anything because they aren't black.

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(7)

ALEXCHIP192

06:21 PMJul 09 2009

So , let's see if I can sum up the gist of what's been said here. Might makes right -"let's just go in and get um". Kill a commie for Christ! Stupid is as stupid does! Everybody else ought to be just like us! It's all big Al Gores fault! Did I miss something?

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(3)

Jmvic123exit

06:18 PMJul 09 2009

AL GORE IS SMARTER THAN YOU AND ME OR YOUR BUSH

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(7)

HFW Supply

06:14 PMJul 09 2009

Jmvic123exit 05:48 PMJul 09 2009 GET THE STORY AT ANYCOST - HARD LABOR FOR SOMEONE WHO IS NOT USED TO IT - HER RICH REPUBLICAN BOSS IS SAFE AT HOME -ITS WHAT THEY DO ====== DUMB DUMB WHEN HAS AL GORE BEEN A REPUBLICAN HE IS NOT THAT SMART

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(2)

CrossRabbSwitch

06:06 PMJul 09 2009

Where is Al Gore? What is Obama doing about this? Where is the democrat outrage?

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(6)

PixieShadoe

06:06 PMJul 09 2009

Why doesn't america just go in and take them back? We are so weak, we can't get binladen and we cant go get two of our own women out of a funky little country like korea, thats so weak.....>>>>>> No we're not, we're just being made to look that way by the current administration. Of course we could go in and extract those women anytime we wanted to. Obama would never do anything like that, he is an apologetic wuss.

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(4)

Jmvic123exit

06:06 PMJul 09 2009

I YAHOOED IT YES YOU ARE RIGHT

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