Michael Wanted to Help Ling & Lee

Michael Wanted To Help Ling & Lee

Author Gotham Chopra, son of Deepak Chopra, tells that a few weeks before his death Michael Jackson contacted him and voiced his concern over the fate of US journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee who have been sentenced to 12 years in a labor prison for illegal entry into North Korea. The two women had attempted to film refugees along the border with China:

"The last time I spoke to my friend Michael Jackson was about a month ago, 3 weeks before his shocking death. He had called me late one night to ask about another of my close friends who he had read about in the news.

Laura Ling, a former colleague and friend, was detained originally by North Korean border guards along with her colleague Euna Lee on March 17th. Since then, they have been imprisoned, had very little contact with their families or western officials, and endured a secretive trial at which they were sentenced to twelve years hard labor. At this present moment, it is unclear where Laura and Euna are – whether they remain in a government guesthouse where they were originally held, in a hospital (due to medical problems for both of them), or moved to the infamous North Korean labor camps that many do not survive.

Michael had read some of the details regarding Laura and Euna’s predicament. As was often the case with him and global events he read about – from famine in Africa to victims of natural disasters in far off countries, to orphans created by wars – he felt a deep sense of empathy for Laura and Euna. When I shared with him that Euna had a four-year-old daughter, he was even more anguished.

He asked me whether I had had any contact with Laura. I told him I had written her a few letters and had been assured they were getting through. Outside of that, her own family had only heard from her twice – brief monitored phonecalls – in the over three months they had been imprisoned. When I told him that, Michael paused.

“Do you think,” he said hesitantly, “that the leader of North Korea could be a fan of mine?”"

I didn’t really know how to respond. Not much is known about the reclusive Kim Jong Il or “Dear leader” as he is called in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Over the years it’s been alleged he has a thing for Hollywood, certain NBA stars, Elvis, and specific liqueurs. Still, I’d never heard about any connection between Michael Jackson and Kim Jong Il. [...] "I don’t really know,” I answered Michael. “But I can try and find out.”

“Please,” Michael responded without hesitantly, “because maybe if he was a fan, I could help get those girls home.”

I explained to Michael that there were larger geo-politics involved, nuclear programs, a new administration trying to assert its foreign policy strategy (Obama), and another one in NK possibly going through some sort of transference of power.

“Yeah,” Michael said wistfully, “but if someone wants to do something good, they just can. They don’t really need to worry about all that other stuff.”

And that was really the end of that conversation. I kept my promise and tried to see if I might find a connection between MJ and KJI, but sadly I wasn’t able to. Before I was able to get back to Michael, the news regarding his tragic passing broke.[...]

To me, Michael’s memory will always be as a great friend and mentor. [...]"

For more information about Laura Ling and Euna Lee and how you can help please go to http://www.lauraandeuna.com.

Source: MJFC / http://www.intent.com /Specila thanks to Wissam for bringing this to our attention!