Laura Ling’s letter to her family, dated May 15
Picked up by the media from the page of Laura Ling and Euna Lee’s Facebook group is news of a letter Laura Ling sent her family, dated May 15.
Directly from the Facebook page:
Journalist Lisa Ling, Laura’s sister received one letter from Laura, dated May 15, 2009. Below are excerpts from Laura’s letter, read by her cousin Angie Wang, at the vigil.
When I first got here, I cried so much. Now, I cry less. I try very hard to think about positive things, but sometimes it is hard too. Some days I get to go outside and get some fresh air. In the early evening, I do some stretching. I also sit and meditate. I breathe deeply and think about positive things that have happened in the day. For example, I think “I’m lucky I made it through another day. I’m lucky my family is working so hard to get me released. I’m thinking about you all constantly and how fortunate I am to have an amazing family. Stay strong and please take care of yourselves. That is my request. Know that I’m thinking of you and dreaming about being reunited with you all again.
All my love,
Laura
I’m quite surprised Ling was able to send a letter home, but then maybe I shouldn’t be. Perhaps, as a blog reader has mentioned before, North Korea allowed it in order to (falsely?) show the journalists are being treated humanely.
Although I’m hesitant to mention the name Bruce Cumings within the presence of this readership, I will offer a bit of his interview posted on the Democracy Now! Web site.
As far as I can tell, they stumbled across the North Korean border inadvertently, giving the North Koreans a nice catch, like Iran. There’s been much less attention to these two than there was to the woman reporter who was recently released by Tehran. But there will be a lot of attention next week when they come to trial in Pyongyang on June 4th. I think–one never knows, but I would guess that the North Koreans will declare them guilty and then kick them out of the country. [Emphasis mine.]
I can actually see this happening. Let’s hope things end in the two reporters’ eventual release.