`US Reporters Were Arrested in N. Korea, Not China`

China yesterday denied that North Korean soldiers entered Chinese soil to drag two American reporters to North Korea.

Euna Lee and Laura Ling have denied a rumor that they were arrested in North Korean territory, saying they were firmly on Chinese soil when they were arrested by North Korean border guards.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said, however, “An investigation by related government agencies found no such evidence.”

Chinese police arrested an ethnic Korean who served as a guide to the two reporters, and are investigating how they crossed the North Korean border. The police declined to disclose details in consideration of the sensitivity of the issue.

Lee and Ling said in a statement Wednesday on the homepage of Current TV, “We accidentally crossed the border into North Korea, but we did not stay there for more than a minute before returning to Chinese territory. But we were forced by North Korean border guards into North Korea.”

bonhong@donga.com