Somewhere Inside by Laura Ling & Lisa Ling

Author:Laura Ling & Lisa Ling [Ling, Laura & Ling, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Personal Memoirs, Political
ISBN: 9780062010711
Google: ddkZYF4E5UUC
Amazon: 0062000683
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: 2010-05-17T16:00:00+00:00

ONE DAY MR. YEE gave me a brief lesson in North Korean Communist thought and the official ideology known as Juche.

“The nucleus of Juche,” he explained, “is that man determines his own destiny. Man is responsible for his actions. He is the master of everything. Do you understand?”

“Yes. So according to Juche, I must determine how I am going to get through this and get home.”

The corners of his lips turned up ever so slightly. “That is correct,” he replied.

I tried to apply the philosophy of Juche to my own situation. I knew I couldn’t just sit by and wait for something to happen. But there was only so much I could do while being confined in a room. More than anything, I wanted to contact Lisa. Even though she was considered an enemy of the state, I knew she could use her connections to have more attention paid to our situation, something the North Koreans might care about more than anything. On a number of occasions, Mr. Yee had mentioned how quiet our families and the U.S. government were being. He said he believed the U.S. government was muzzling our families to make the story disappear from the public consciousness.

He also said that though some people in the North Korean government would send us home under the right circumstances, other hard-liners wanted to send us to a labor camp immediately. If Lisa could get the media to focus on our situation, the North Koreans might see this as movement toward some action.

The problem was that I didn’t know how to reach her. I didn’t want to send another letter, which was a purely one-way conversation. I decided to ask Mr. Yee if I could telephone Lisa. I didn’t think any previous American detainee had been allowed to call home, but during one of our walks, I tried to convince Mr. Yee that allowing me to speak with Lisa might yield results and get them what they wanted.

“You will be able to listen in on our conversation,” I said. “We can go over everything I’m going to say beforehand. There are things I can convey to her that I can’t say in a letter or to the Swedish ambassador.”

“Like what?” he asked.

I mentioned Lisa’s relationship with various media figures, including Oprah Winfrey and Jon Klein, the president of CNN.

“If the U.S. government is really trying to keep things quiet, they may not want to hear me telling Lisa to go to the media,” I said. “Do you see why it’s better to make a phone call?”

I didn’t really believe the U.S. government would care what message I had about the media, but I was desperate to hear Lisa’s voice and to let her hear mine. It was the most convincing reason I could think of.

“I understand,” he replied, nodding. “I will think about it.”

Nearly two weeks after my first request to call Lisa, Mr. Yee told me that I might have an opportunity to phone my family. He asked what would be the best time to call.

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