On Wednesday, June 24, 2009, Academy of Art University, in cooperation with many diverse local community groups, organized a Community Peaceful Gathering to show our support for Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who is an Academy of Art alumni.
Both American journalists were jailed and sentenced to 12 years in labor prison after being convicted of illegally crossing the border into North Korea. The journalists had been working on a story on human trafficking from the Chinese side of the border for Current TV, headquartered in San Francisco. Both were pardoned by the leader of North Korea Kim Jong-il on August 4 and safely returned to the U.S.
