{"id":40302,"date":"2009-06-07T22:51:10","date_gmt":"2009-06-08T05:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=40302"},"modified":"2009-06-07T23:40:26","modified_gmt":"2009-06-08T06:40:26","slug":"n-korea-sentences-2-us-journalists-to-12-years-of-hard-labor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2009\/06\/n-korea-sentences-2-us-journalists-to-12-years-of-hard-labor\/","title":{"rendered":"N. Korea Sentences 2 U.S. Journalists to 12 Years of Hard Labor"},"content":{"rendered":"
Two American journalists have been sentenced to 12 years of labor in North Korea after being arrested while reporting on North Korean refugees in China. It is unclear whether the two women were detained after crossing over the North Korean border or if North Korean guards crossed onto Chinese territory to capture them. From the New York Times<\/a>:<\/p>\n \nThe Central Court, the highest court of North Korea, held the trial of the two Americans, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, from Thursday to Monday and convicted them of \u201ccommitting hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry,\u201d the North\u2019s official news agency, KCNA, said in a report monitored in Seoul.<\/p>\n Ms. Ling and Ms. Lee have been held since they were detained by North Korean soldiers patrolling the border between China and North Korea on March 17.<\/p>\n […] The sentencing came amid rising tensions between Washington and Pyongyang. Earlier Monday, North Korea threatened to retaliate with \u201cextreme\u201d measures if the United Nations punished it for its nuclear test last month, and Washington warned that it might try to put the North back on its list of states that sponsor terrorism, a designation that could subject the impoverished state to more financial sanctions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n