Journalists given sentence

Two American jouranlists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were recently charged in North Korea with illegally crossing the border. They were convicted and senctenced to 12 years in a labor camp.

The families of the journalists issued statementssaying that Ling has a serious medical condition and that Lee's 4-year-old daughter is "signs of anguish over the absence of her mother."

There is serious concern over the circumstances. Many, including me, believe that this is way too harsh of a sentence and that this is simply a political move by North Korea because the two are American. President Obama said yesterday that he hopes that North Korea is not using the two to a political advantage. I believe that Kim Jong Il is trying to pick a fight with the United States and trying to provoke a military offensive.

These circumstances put President Obama in a very tough position. We want to avoid a war with North Korea as much as possible, so too much immediate action would be bad. All America can really do is try to work with China so that we can, together, put economic pressure on North Korea so that the people will have to revolt against the current administration.



^Lee (left) and Ling (right)^