North Korea has sentenced two US journalists to 12 years hard labour after finding them guilty of entering the country illegally, state media has reported, according to Aljazeera.net Monday.
Laura Ling and Euna Lee were detained by North Korean border guards on March 17 and have been held in the country ever since.
The two were sentenced on Monday following a trial behind closed doors that began last week, the North’s official KCNA news agency said.
North Korea has said the two reporters had crossed illegally to its side of the border with China, although other reports have suggested the two were on the Chinese side when they were arrested.
At the time of their arrest Ling and Lee were working for California-based Current TV, an online service set up by Al Gore, the former US vice-president.
