Laura Ling Arrested in North Korea

i don't think there's any question that Supreme Being Eternal Excellency Extraordinaire Kim Jong-Il is anything other than a lunatic pustule on the stage of generally coherent (even if not cooperative) global diplomacy. He embraces this paradox of being a total isolationist yet wanting the world to fear, cower and be awed. Has anyone you know ever said anything positive about North Korea in the last decade or beyond? Reports on defectors always contain amazing stories of state idiocy and a vast amount of silent suffering. Welcome to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, where it's always 1953, the counter-revolution long ago interred.

It's extremely disconcerting to learn that Laura Ling and Eura Lee, who were arrested near the Korean-Chinese border on 19 March, have now been indicted for "alleged illegal entry into North Korea and hostile acts." This is a prison system i would never want to see from inside, and i cringe at what may happen to these women. Here's what the CIA World Factbook has to say about the DPRK's legal sysem:

based on Prussian civil law system with Japanese influences and Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Prussian civil law? Had to wiki that one; found this quintessential statement by Voltaire: "Where some states have an army, the Prussian Army has a state!" Sounds a bit gitmoetic and may signal something meaningful about the rule of civil law. Otherwise, wiki draws a blank on this subject and there just aren't many sites out there which expound on it in substantive detail (disclaimer: i don't speak german). There are tenets of Prussian law found throughout Europe, so it's probably not as archaic as it sounds, but still... i would not want to go on trial for hostile acts in a country that seems to thrive on hostilities. Laura and Euna were arrested at a riparian border, working on a story about North Koreans who are illegally crossing into China. Oops! Whether the soldiers who picked them up themselves had entered Chinese territory is likely irrelevant, now that the North Korean government has them.

Laura Ling has done a lot of great reporting for Current TV; it's surprising they haven't posted any news about this on their site. i've embedded one of her pieces on this blog, and you can - and should - check out others, including recent reports on the US-Mexican border violence, gangs, etc. She has great interview skills and does really good work. The Committee to Protect Journalists has issued a statement to the DPRK, but who knows what weight that will carry? Since Al Gore is one of the forces behind Current, i want to believe that some kind of contact and tracking of these journalists is happening. Will continue to follow this as more information becomes available.