U.S. urges N. Korea to free American journalists held since March

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, June 1 (Yonhap) -- The United States Monday called on North Korea to
free two American journalists detained since March for allegedly crossing the
border with China illegally while covering North Korean refugees.

Deputy State Department spokesman Robert Wood also said that the Swedish
ambassador in Pyongyang, Mats Foyer, met with Euna Lee and Laura Ling of Current
TV, a San Francisco-based Internet news outlet, earlier in the day for the third
time since their detention on March 17.
"My understanding is that the Swedish ambassador, who is our protecting power in
Pyongyang, visited with the two journalists today; had a separate visit with each
of them," Wood told a daily news briefing. "There's not much I can say about the
visit, because there are privacy considerations."
Wood said their release is "a high priority for the president and secretary, and
we're going to continue to do all we can to see them back with their families."
"They need to release these two Americans," he said. "We're going to continue our
efforts to try to gain their release."
The Swedish Embassy handles consular affairs involving American citizens in North
Korea as Washington does not have diplomatic relations with the North.
North Korea has said that the reporters will be put on trial Thursday on charges
of illegal entry and "hostile acts."
The journalists face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of espionage.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week said she hoped the North's
decision to try them signaled their early release, in an apparent reference to
another American journalist, Roxana Saberi, who was set free by Iran weeks ago on
a suspended prison term after getting an eight-year sentence for espionage.
Wood said he hopes North Korea will not link the fate of the American journalists
to the ongoing crisis on the Korean Peninsula, with North Korea's second nuclear
test, short-range missile launches and threats to nullify the armistice that
ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
"The whole nuclear issue is a separate one," Wood said. "We've made very clear --
and other countries, as well, have spoken to this issue -- that these two
journalists need to be released. And that's what our efforts are geared toward
right now."
Allegations are that North Korea may use the detained journalists as a bargaining
chip for resumption of bilateral talks on its nuclear weapons and ballistic
missiles.
North Korea has threatened to boycott the six-party talks on ending its nuclear
weapons programs and reinforce its nuclear and ballistic missile arsenal unless
the Security Council apologizes for its rebuke for an April 5 rocket launch.
Pyongyang also threatened to shun any dialogue with the U.S., citing what it
calls hostile policy.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said last week, "Obviously, they see the two
women as possible bargaining chips. Now, what the North Koreans want more than
anything is they want to deal directly with us. They don't want the other
countries involved."
U.S. officials have said they will deal with North Korea bilaterally under the
framework of the six-party talks on the North's denuclearization, which involve
the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.
"So they're testing us, the North Koreans," Richardson said. "It's a new
administration."
As a U.S. congressman, Richardson, visited Pyongyang in 1994 and 1996 to
successfully negotiate the release of two Americans.
A U.S. pilot was detained in North Korea in 1994 when his military chopper was
shot down after straying across the border. Another American citizen, Evan
Hunziker, was held for three months in 1996 on suspicion of spying after swimming
the Yalu River bordering North Korea and China.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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