By Matthew Champion.
Two US journalists detained in North Korea earlier this year claim they were forcibly dragged across the border from China before being arrested.
Euna Lee and Laura Ling were sentenced to 12 years hard labour in March this year for trespassing on North Korean soil.
They were freed after being given a pardon by Kim Jong-il when former president Bill Clinton flew to Pyongyang in August.
Writing about their experiences in a letter to the Los Angeles Times, the journalists said the 'psychological wounds of imprisonment are slow to heal', revealing that some details of their ordeal 'are still too painful to visit'.
Working for Al Gore's Current TV, Ms Lee and Ms Ling were researching a story on human trafficking in the region.
They said their guide led them across the frozen Tumen river that separates China and North Korea before realising they had, albeit very briefly, crossed into North Korea on March 17th.
'We didn't spend more than a minute on North Korean soil before turning back, but it is a minute we deeply regret,' they wrote.
'As the sun appeared over the horizon, our guide stepped onto the ice. We followed him.
'But we knew our guide was taking us closer to the North Korean side of the river. As he walked, he began making deep, low hooting sounds, which we assumed was his way of making contact with North Korean border guards he knew.
'When we set out, we had no intention of leaving China, but when our guide beckoned for us to follow him beyond the middle of the river, we did, eventually arriving at the riverbank on the North Korean side.
'He pointed out a small village in the distance where he told us that North Koreans waited in safe houses to be smuggled into China via a well-established network that has escorted tens of thousands across the porous border.'
Ms Lee and Ms Ling revealed that they became nervous at this point and headed back towards China.
'Midway across the ice, we heard yelling,' they wrote. 'We looked back and saw two North Korean soldiers with rifles running toward us. Instinctively, we ran. We were firmly back inside China when the soldiers apprehended us.'
While the journalists' guide and producer outran the guards they were not so lucky, with the soldiers catching up with them within Chinese territory.
'We tried with all our might to cling to bushes, ground, anything that would keep us on Chinese soil, but we were no match for the determined soldiers.
'They violently dragged us back across the ice to North Korea and marched us to a nearby army base, where we were detained.'
Ms Lee and Ms Ling, who believed their guide may have 'lured [them] into a trap', said they swallowed notes and damaged videotapes to protect their sources and interviewees during 'rigorous, daily' interrogation sessions.
The release of Ms Lee and Ms Ling, which led to widespread praise for President Clinton, marked the gradual warming of relations between North Korea and the west following an underground nuclear test and missiles being fired over Japan.
Since then a North Korean delegation has held talks with the South Korean president in Seoul and border restrictions normalised at a joint industrial park.
Two US journalists detained in North Korea earlier this year claim they were forcibly dragged across the border from China before being arrested.
Euna Lee and Laura Ling were sentenced to 12 years hard labour in March this year for trespassing on North Korean soil.
They were freed after being given a pardon by Kim Jong-il when former president Bill Clinton flew to Pyongyang in August.
Writing about their experiences in a letter to the Los Angeles Times, the journalists said the 'psychological wounds of imprisonment are slow to heal', revealing that some details of their ordeal 'are still too painful to visit'.
Working for Al Gore's Current TV, Ms Lee and Ms Ling were researching a story on human trafficking in the region.
They said their guide led them across the frozen Tumen river that separates China and North Korea before realising they had, albeit very briefly, crossed into North Korea on March 17th.
'We didn't spend more than a minute on North Korean soil before turning back, but it is a minute we deeply regret,' they wrote.
'As the sun appeared over the horizon, our guide stepped onto the ice. We followed him.
'But we knew our guide was taking us closer to the North Korean side of the river. As he walked, he began making deep, low hooting sounds, which we assumed was his way of making contact with North Korean border guards he knew.
'When we set out, we had no intention of leaving China, but when our guide beckoned for us to follow him beyond the middle of the river, we did, eventually arriving at the riverbank on the North Korean side.
'He pointed out a small village in the distance where he told us that North Koreans waited in safe houses to be smuggled into China via a well-established network that has escorted tens of thousands across the porous border.'
Ms Lee and Ms Ling revealed that they became nervous at this point and headed back towards China.
'Midway across the ice, we heard yelling,' they wrote. 'We looked back and saw two North Korean soldiers with rifles running toward us. Instinctively, we ran. We were firmly back inside China when the soldiers apprehended us.'
While the journalists' guide and producer outran the guards they were not so lucky, with the soldiers catching up with them within Chinese territory.
'We tried with all our might to cling to bushes, ground, anything that would keep us on Chinese soil, but we were no match for the determined soldiers.
'They violently dragged us back across the ice to North Korea and marched us to a nearby army base, where we were detained.'
Ms Lee and Ms Ling, who believed their guide may have 'lured [them] into a trap', said they swallowed notes and damaged videotapes to protect their sources and interviewees during 'rigorous, daily' interrogation sessions.
The release of Ms Lee and Ms Ling, which led to widespread praise for President Clinton, marked the gradual warming of relations between North Korea and the west following an underground nuclear test and missiles being fired over Japan.
Since then a North Korean delegation has held talks with the South Korean president in Seoul and border restrictions normalised at a joint industrial park.
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