Laura G. Ling

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Ling

Laura G. Ling (Chinese: 凌志美, born December 1, 1976) is an American journalist and writer.

Laura Ling and fellow journalist Euna Lee were detained in North Korea after they illegally crossed into North Korea from the People's Republic of China without a visa. They were tried and convicted, then subsequently pardoned after former U.S. President Bill Clinton flew to North Korea to meet with Kim Jong-il.

Family

Ling is the sister of Lisa Ling, who is a special correspondent for The Oprah Winfrey Show, National Geographic Explorer, and CNN.

Ling was born in Sacramento, California. Her mother, Mary Mei-yan (née Wang), is a Taiwanese immigrant from Tainan, Taiwan, and formerly served as the head of the Los Angeles office of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs. Ling's father, Chung Teh "Douglas" Ling, is a Chinese immigrant, born in Hong Kong in 1937. Her paternal grandmother was born on Labaun, Singapore.

Her paternal grandfather, who was from Guangzhou, Guangdong, was one of the first Chinese students allowed to study in the United States in the 1930s. He received his graduate degree from New York University and an M.B.A degree from University of Colorado. He struggled to find a job in the United States and eventually opened the first Chinese restaurant in Folsom, California.

Ling's parents divorced when she was four years old. Following the divorce, she and her sister were raised in Carmichael, California, a city outside of Sacramento, by their father.

Laura Ling is married to Iain Clayton, a financial analyst. On June 3, 2010, Ling gave birth to a girl, naming her Li Jefferson Clayton, in Burbank, California. Laura and her husband decided to name the baby Li, after Laura's sister Lisa, and chose Jefferson since it was President Clinton's middle name.