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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31160497/
BREAKING NEWS
updated 7 minutes ago
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea's top court has convicted two U.S. journalists, and sentenced them to 12 years in labor prison, the country's state news agency reported Monday.
The Central Court tried American TV reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee and confirmed their unspecified "grave crime" against the nation, and of illegally crossing into North Korea, the Korean Central News Agency said.
It said the court - which tried the women from June 4 to 8 - "sentenced each of them to 12 years of reform through labor." The report gave no other details.
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The U.S. Embassy in Seoul said it had no immediate comment.
The circumstances surrounding the trial of the two journalists and their arrest three months ago on the China-North Korean border have been shrouded in secrecy, as is typical of the reclusive nation.
There were fears that the two women would be used by Pyongyang as bargaining chips in its standoff with South Korea and the United States, which are pushing for U.N. sanctions to punish the nation for its latest nuclear blast and barrage of missile tests.
The journalists - working for former Vice President Al Gore's California-based Current TV - were arrested March 17 as they were reporting about the trafficking of women. It's unclear if they strayed into the North or were grabbed by aggressive border guards who crossed into China.
Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider did not have an immediate response to the sentencing.
The women cannot appeal as they were tried in North Korea's highest court where decisions are final.
The sentences are much harsher than what many observers had hoped for. The trial was not open to the public or to foreign observers.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
I've been following this case since it started back in March and it's so frustrating to hear this news. North Koreareally seems to want to push the buttons of the free world and see what they can get away with. There really can be no negotiating with a nation like this. Ifeel especially horrible for the women, who I am almost certain did nothing wrong that warranted 12 YEARS of hard labor. One of them has a 4-year-old daughtertoo. I can't imagine what the families are feeling right now.
Hopefully there's a way they can be released, but I'm skeptical.
What's especially frustrating is the perceived lack of response the President and Secretary of State seem to be giving this matter. Hopefully Obama andClinton realizes what a very real problem North Korea is after this news comes out from both a humanitarian and a political perspective and try the damnhardest to get these women out.
