Press Release: Euna Lee, American Journalist Who Was Imprisoned by North Korea, to write Memoir
Euna Lee, American Journalist
Who Was Imprisoned by North Korea,
To Write Memoir
(New York, NY – November 12, 2009) Euna Lee, the Korean-American journalist who, with fellow Current TV journalist Laura Ling, was captured, incarcerated, and condemned to hard labor this year by the totalitarian regime of communist North Korea, has reached agreement with Broadway Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, to write a book in which she will describe her experiences.
Diane Salvatore, Publisher, Broadway Books, acquired world, audio, electronic book, and first serial rights from Jennifer Gates and Todd Shuster of the Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary Agency. Vanessa Mobley, a Senior Editor at Broadway, will edit the book. A publication date has not yet been announced.
In her book, tentatively entitled, The World Is Bigger Now: A Memoir of Faith, Family and Freedom, Ms. Lee will recount the circumstances of her capture on March 17, 2009 by the North Korean military at the border region of China and North Korea where she and Ms. Ling were investigating a story about the trafficking of female North Korean refugees. In addition to detailing her 140 days of imprisonment, her ongoing interrogation and her efforts to protect her sources and the subjects of her reporting, she will describe how her deep Christian faith and unshakable belief in family sustained her during her captivity.
In June, Ms. Lee and Ms. Ling were found guilty of illegal entry into North Korea and sentenced to twelve years hard labor. Both women were pardoned by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on August 5, the day after former President Bill Clinton arrived in Pyongyang on a publicly unannounced mission to secure their release.
Said Ms. Lee, “In telling my full story, I want to give back to the many people who supported us, to share a message of hope, and to raise awareness of the issues related to human trafficking and the plight of political refugees around the world. In so doing, I hope to encourage others to acknowledge our similarities before our differences.”
From the New York Times:
Euna Lee, a journalist who was arrested by North Korea and jailed for nearly five months, will write a book for the Broadway Books imprint of the Crown Publishing Group detailing her experiences. Ms. Lee, a producer for Current TV, was arrested with a colleague, Laura Ling, by North Korean soldiers on March 17 while they were filming at the border between China and North Korea.
Read the whole NYT article here: Freed Journalist to Write Memoir About Her Captivity
Ms Lee was raised in Seoul, South Korea, where she lived until age 23. On November 9, she and Ms. Ling were named 2009 Women of the Year by Glamour Magazine at a ceremony in New York.
The Crown Publishing Group is a division of Random House, Inc., whose parent company is Bertelsmann AG.
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CONTACT: For more information, please contact David Drake in the Broadway Books Publicity Department at 212-782-9001 or ddrake@randomhouse.com