Laura Ling & Euna Lee Sentenced 12 Years In Korean Labor Prison
Since March 17, American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee have been detained in North Korea for illegally entering into the country, hostile acts and spying.The woman traveled to the region to report on defectors living along the border of China and North Korea.
A trial has been held over the last four days, and today the two woman were sentenced to serve 12 years in a labor prison.
As first reported by CNN, the Korean Central News Agency says the women will be serving time "for the grave crime they committed against the Korean nation and their illegal border crossing."
The U.S. State Department is currently trying to confirm this information with North Korean authorities. Spokesman Ian Kelley said, “We are deeply concerned by the reported sentencing of the two American citizen journalists by North Korean authorities, and we are engaged through all possible channels to secure their release. We once again urge North Korea to grant
the immediate release of the two American citizen journalists on humanitarian grounds.”
Laura Ling is a managing editor of Vanguard at Current TV. Her sister, CNN special correspondent Lisa Ling said, “When the girls left the United States, they never intended to cross into North Korean soil. And it they did at any point, we apologize.”Lisa also said that she hopes this tragic situation can at least enable the U.S. and North Korea to move forward with diplomatic talks:
"We would champion the opportunity to have these girls be the catalyst for diplomacy. I think it could be really amazing. The problem right now is that our two countries don't have a diplomatic relationship and so communication has been really limited. We are trying to encourage our two countries to come together and if this is the reason why they do, then we'll take it.
Contact with the two women has been very limited, but their families report that Ling and Lee are “terrified”.
