Laura Ling, Euna Lee, good luck!

I’ve written about this before… some are lucky but others aren’t. Remember the two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were caught by the North Koreans? According to the New York Times, the two are scheduled to go on trial on today at the Pyongyang Central Court. It’s been more than two months since they’ve been held in North Korea for illegal entry. The NYT says that the two could face five years’ imprisonment and hard labour (the Washington Post puts it as 10 years). And the prison camps in that country are notorious. The NYT report quotes Lisa Ling, Laura’s elder sister in California, as saying she hopes the N Korean government will show leniency. Indeed, the WashPost report mentions that Pyongyang had allowed Laura to call her sister; it was the first time in months that Lisa was hearing her sister’s voice. The WashPost calls this “highly unusual for one of the world's most repressive governments”. The report also quotes a ruling party lawmaker in the South Korean Assembly as saying that Pyongyang could release the women “when the timing is most favorable for North Korea's eventual purpose of engaging the United States”.