I wanted to share a story about Euna Lee, who along with Laura Ling, has been held in N. Korea for 4 months. As a mother, the story has been haunting me since I heard it. It haunts me because I can totally relate to Euna’s actions.
Several weeks ago, we had Euna’s husband, Michael, over for dinner. I have never met Euna, and it was the first time I met Michael. Because of my brother’s close friendship with Laura Ling, it seemed natural to connect with Euna’s family, as well.
Michael is wonderful – vivacious, smart, funny. It was the first day, since this ordeal started, that he had left their 4 year old daughter, Hana. She was spending a night with his father. It was also the first time– at that time, the girls had been in captivity for about 3 months – that he was alone and could process his feelings. As other parents will relate, we often put aside our own emotions to focus on our children’s emotions.
Michael chuckled as he told us about an urgent message he had received from Euna.
Euna had asked her guards if she could pass her message onto the Swedish Ambassador, who has been the girls only source of contact and information. (The Swedish ambassador has met Laura and Euna – separately – only 4 times in their 4 months of captivity. The girls are not being held together.)
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What can you do to help?
- Please Sign the Petition asking for Amnesty for Laura Ling and Euna Lee
- Follow ‘FreeLauraEuna‘ on Twitter
- Join the Laura and Euna Group on Facebook
- Visit www.lauraandeuna.com
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- What Have You Done in the Last 114 Days?
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- Laura Ling & Euna Lee – A Foreign Policy Crisis
- Obama and North Korea – Not Too Much to Ask
- Intend the Return of Laura Ling and Euna Lee
- Sign the Petition to Free Laura Ling and Euna Lee
Mallika Chopra is the founder of Intent.com, a site focused on personal, social and global wellness
posted July 16, 2009 at 11:47 am
Smartest damned thing I’ve seen in a while. She’s humanizing herself, both to the world and to her North Korean captors. It’s harder to mistreat someone if you see them in a sympathetic light. I’ll freely admit that my first impression of these two reporters was an extension of what I thought about Lisa Ling, who I feel is just another attractive television reporter who didn’t really give a damn about journalism and exploited other people for ratings, money and fame. My first thoughts were that they were just two more San Francisco liberals with a privilaged upbringing,no real clue about the real world and the desire to be the next Lisa Ling. You know, get your journalistic ‘street cred’ by rolling around in some mud, go on a few fun adventures and then use that to come home and land a nice TV contract. There are just as many people who are glad these two getting a little taste of real life, as there are people who are deeply concerned for their fate.