Families agonise over North Korea "poker game"
US authorities have called on Kim Jong-il's government to release the women
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Two US journalists have been sentenced to 12 years hard labour after being convicted of entering North Korea illegally. |  |
Tuesday, 09, Jun 2009 02:28
The families of two American women sentenced to 12 years in North Korean labour camps have called for their immediate release on humanitarian grounds.
Journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling were convicted of entering North Korea illegally during a report on the trafficking of women into China in March.
The families of both women, who are in their 30s, said they were "shocked and devastated" by the trial.
"Laura and Euna are journalists who went to the China-North Korea border to do a job," a joint statement said, adding that Ms Ling had a serious medical condition and Ms Lee's four-year-old daughter was asking questions about her mother.
"We don't know what really happened on March 17th, but if they wandered across the border without permission, we apologise on their behalf and we are certain that they have also apologised."
Ms Lee and Ms Ling's trial was behind closed doors and there is no prospect of an appeal.
Both work for Current TV, a Californian-based media venture from former US vice president Al Gore.
United States secretary of state Hillary Clinton has called on Pyongyang to distinguish between its current dispute with the international community over its nuclear programme and the fate of the two women.
Asking authorities to "grant clemency and deport them" she said: "Obviously, we are deeply concerned about the length of the sentences and the fact that this trial was conducted totally in secret with no observers.
"And we are engaged in all possible ways, through every possible channel, to secure their release."
The White House has also involved itself in the two journalists' case, with New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, former US ambassador to the UN who negotiated the release of Americans in North Korea, saying he had been contacted for advice.
He told NBC Ms Lee and Ms Ling would now be used as chips in a "high stakes poker game".