According to a scholar who has heard from North Korean officials, Euna Lee and Laura Ling have not yet been sent to a prison labor camp as called for in their sentences, and are instead being kept at a guest house in Pyongyang: Report: 2 US journalists staying in guest house.

The delay in sending them might be an attempt to seek talks in Washington on their release. North Korea's move not to carry out the sentence suggests that it could release them through a dialogue with the United States. They could even be set free at an early date, depending on the U.S. gesture.

This is all according to Han Park, a political scientist at the University of Georgia who recently visited North Korea. Okay, so it's good to hear that they're doing okay in a guest house, and not suffering awful conditions in a remote gulag. That said, let's continue to see what we can do about getting them home.