So were Euna Lee and Laura Ling in China or North Korea at the time of capture? If so, then it is an illegal crossing and North Korea have justification holding them. If not, then it is a kidnapping. According to DailyNK, they are likely in Pyongyang being interrogated. Answer most likely lies with the American cameraman and Chinese guide that escaped arrest.

Whatever the circumstances, these two are lucky to be Americans. If a North Korean is caught moving in and out of the country, then their fate is either detainment in a concentration camp or death for repeat offenders. Whether you have sympathy for these journalists or not, remember their work was to interview North Korea refugees risking their lives to escape the country.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Two American journalists were missing Friday after they reportedly were detained by North Korea for ignoring warnings to stop shooting footage of the reclusive country.

Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore’s online media outlet Current TV, were seized Tuesday along the Chinese-North Korean border, according to news reports and an activist who had worked with them. Their Chinese guide also was detained although a third journalist with the group, Mitch Koss, apparently eluded capture.

U.S. officials expressed concern to North Korean officials about the reported detentions and said they were working with the Chinese government to ascertain the whereabouts of the Americans.

“When you have two American citizens who are being held against their will, we want to find out all the facts and gain their release,” State Department spokesman Robert A. Wood said Thursday in Washington.

U.S. officials also were in contact with Swedish diplomats in North Korea. Sweden’s Ambassador to Pyongyang, Mats Foyer, refused to say in an e-mail whether negotiations for the Americans’ release were under way but acknowledged that Sweden acts as Washington’s representative because the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea.

Calls to North Korea’s mission to the United Nations in New York went unanswered Thursday.

My guess is that the North Korean border guards figured they could gain ransom money from grabbing them. While this seemed like a crime of opportunity, that could change if the North Korean regime gets wind of it.

So why didn’t the Chinese border guards do anything? My guess is that because of the nature of their work (interviewing North Korean refugees), the journalists were actively avoiding authority. It’s very likely when it happened there was no one around.

I hope they are released soon. Hopefully, this is a test that Pres. Obama and Sec. Clinton. will pass.

(Updates lacking? Then take over writing for this site. Shoot me an email if you are interested.)

Authorities and “activists” be damned, there is no stopping balloon man

Some 20 activists gathered in the Imjingak pavilion just south of the inter-Korean border at noon on Tuesday and sent some 100,000 propaganda leaflets and 432 North Korean W5,000 bills attached to a helium balloon across the border to North Korea. They were member of two groups called Family Assembly Abducted to North Korea and Fighters for Free North Korea.

“The reason we are sending North Korean won instead of U.S. dollar is because we want North Korean citizens to use the money comfortably and freely without having to draw suspicion from the authorities,” said Choi Sung-yong, president of FAANK.

On Feb. 16, the activists sent 20,000 propaganda leaflets and some 30 North Korean W5,000 notes. Park Sang-hak, head of the FFNK, said, “The leaflets are sent for humanitarian reasons, not for political purposes. They aim to help North Koreans find out the truth. We will continue to send leaflets until the human rights situation in North Korea improves.”