TWO JOURNALISTS CONVICTED IN N. KOREA WARNED ABOUT DANGERS OF CROSSING BORDER

Blaine Harden writes in today's The Washington Post on the conviction of two American journalists in North Korea on charges of illegally entering the country. This is indeed an unfortunate development, coming so soon after North Korea has tested an atomic device and fired off four missiles.

But there has been some evidence that a friend and mentor/supervisor of the two young journalists warned them ahead of time about the dangers of crossing into North Korea from China. Yet apparently they went ahead and did just that, in pursuit of their story on North Korean refugees fleeing across the border into China.

Reports Harden:

"In appearances last week on U.S. television, the families of the women broke months of silence and offered public apologies to the North Korean government for whatever acts the journalists may have committed.

""If at any point the girls went into North Korea, then we apologize on their behalf," said Lisa Ling, who noted that she had recently received a telephone call from her sister Laura in Pyongyang and that she sounded "extremely scared.""

So unfortunately, this story is more complex than merely an irrational act by a tyrant government against two innocent American journalists. Now the United States government finds itself in a position where there are no easy solutions.