Last night, CNN special correspondent Lisa Ling, sister of Laura Ling, spoke with Erica Hill—sparingly—about the details of the ordeal her sister and fellow Current TV journalist Euna Lee went through as they were held captive in North Korea prior to this week’s return:
“We’ve talked very briefly about it. And she definitely wants to divulge exactly what happened. And I think she’s going to write an editorial very, very soon that addressing it. And I want to let her do it. She did say that they touched North Korean territory very, very briefly. And then beyond that, I want to let her tell the story.”
She later continued:
“It was something that, you know, they were never planning to do originally. I mean, I said this before, that when they left U.S. soil they never intended to cross into North Korea. And, you know, they — I mean she said it was maybe 30 seconds. And then, you know, everything just sort of got chaotic.”
Until this week, it had been somewhat unclear whether the two had actually crossed over the border or if they were captured before crossing. In the interview, Lisa Ling stated that her sister claimed to be treated very well by her captors, but added that she is still recovering:
“She’s still quite weak and exhausted and incredibly emotional. You know, she’s been in relative isolation for months and months and, you know, she doesn’t even like to be alone. Yesterday she was so exhausted and she wanted to take a quick nap. And she kept asking me, are you going to be here when I come back? Are you going to be here when I come back?”