(Aug. 6) - The two U.S. journalists freed by North Korea rarely saw each other during their 4 1/2 months of captivity, according to a sister of one of the women.
"They actually were kept apart most of the time. ... On the day of their trial, they hugged each other and that was it," Lisa Ling told KTLA-TV on Wednesday.
Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor after being convicted of illegally entering North Korea. The two were pardoned following talks between former President Bill Clinton and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. They arrived back in California along with Clinton on Wednesday.
"The past 140 days have been the most difficult, heart-wrenching time of our lives," Laura Ling said, moments after the two journalists were reunited with their families.
Neither woman offered details of their treatment in North Korea, which has a reputation for a brutal government and has struggled through famine.
Lisa Ling later told reporters her sister was "a little bit weak" and it would take some time for her to be able to speak about her captivity.
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Ordeal in a Hostile Land
In an article for Current TV, Euna Lee, left and Laura Ling said that their five months of imprisonment in North Korea began when they briefly crossed the border from China on March 17. They said they had returned to Chinese soil, however, when Korean border guards chased them down and dragged them back into North Korea.
www.lauraandeuna.com, Yonhap / AP
www.lauraandeuna.com, Yonhap / AP
"She's really, really anxious to have fresh fruit and fresh food. ... There were rocks in her rice," Lisa Ling said outside her sister's home in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley. "Obviously, it's a country that has a lot of economic problems."
Lisa Ling said the two women spent a couple days together at the beginning of their ordeal and then were separated for the duration of the 4 1/2 months. Lisa Ling said her family had only four telephone conversations with her sister during her captivity. During one, she said her sister asked that they write to Lee "and tell her that I'm thinking about her, and I love her."
Lisa Ling said her sister and Lee were held in a guest house, having been spared the labor camp because of concerns about their health. Lee lost 15 pounds during her detention. Laura Ling, who suffers from an ulcer, was seen by a doctor, her sister said.
"She's been in isolation for three and a half months," Lisa Ling told The New York Times of her sister. "She's trying to decompress. She hasn't been able to speak freely in months. Before she wants to speak her story, she wants to make sure of her state of mind. She is lethargic and tired now."
