The War On News

A record of government actions against journalism and fact-based reporting, from the first press laws to today

Incident

North Korea: American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee are sentenced to hard labor

North KoreaRSF rank: not recorded

Engraving of an empty press briefing room with a lectern and rows of chairs

A North Korean court sentenced Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee to twenty years of "reform through hard labor" after their arrest for crossing the border from China without authorization, and both were released months later following a visit by former President Bill Clinton.123

What happened

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, journalists for the American outlet Current TV, were arrested on March 17, 2009, and charged with crossing the border from China into North Korea without authorization. A North Korean court sentenced them to twenty years of "reform through hard labor." The two women were held separately from each other in a combination guesthouse and government-run hotel outside Pyongyang; both later said they had been psychologically distressed during their detention but were not physically abused. Their roughly five-month ordeal ended in June 2009 when former President Bill Clinton traveled to Pyongyang and met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who granted the pardons that let Ling and Lee return to the United States.123

Ling and Lee were pardoned and released in June 2009 after roughly five months in detention.3

What reason was given

Stated justification

North Korean authorities charged Ling and Lee with crossing the border from China without authorization on March 17, the specific basis stated for their arrest and trial.123

What changed for reporting

Two American journalists received a twenty-year hard-labor sentence for a border-crossing charge while reporting near North Korea's frontier, and their release required a former president's personal diplomatic visit rather than any legal appeal.123

Timeline

2009

8 June 2009
North Korea: American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee are sentenced to hard labor

Who acted

NameRole in this incidentOffice at the time
Kim Jong IlorderedChairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea

Outlets and journalists

NameKindRelation
Current TVoutletaffected
Euna Leejournalist, Current TVaffected
Laura Lingjournalist, Current TVaffected

Sources

  1. Attacks on the Press 2009: North KoreaCommittee to Protect Journalists, 2010-02-16, reporting. Source record
  2. Today in History: June 8Associated Press, 2022-06-08, reporting. Source record
  3. US detainees freed by North KoreaBBC, 2014-11-08, reporting. Source record

Claims and evidence

Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.

  1. Ling and Lee were charged with illegally crossing the border from China on March 17, 2009.Charged with illegally crossing the border from China on March 17Attacks on the Press 2009: North Korea, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2010-02-16.Claim 599, checked 2026-09-22.
  2. A North Korean court sentenced the two journalists to twenty years of reform through hard labor.sentenced to 20 years of 'reform through hard labor'Attacks on the Press 2009: North Korea, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2010-02-16.Claim 600, checked 2026-09-22.
  3. Ling and Lee returned to the United States after Bill Clinton traveled to Pyongyang and Kim Jong Il granted the pardons.returned to the United States after former President Bill Clinton traveled to Pyongyang to escort them home following behind-the-scenes negotiationsAttacks on the Press 2009: North Korea, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2010-02-16.Claim 601, checked 2026-09-22.