Two U.S. journalists pardoned and freed by North Korea did cross illegally into that country, the sister of one of the women said. "She did say that they touched North Korean territory very, very briefly," Lisa Ling, sister of Laura Ling, told CNN on Thursday. "It was something that they were never planning to do originally," Lisa Ling said. "I mean, I said this before, when they left U.S. soil, they never intended to cross into North Korea. She said ...

The United States has dropped its request that two American journalists imprisoned in North Korea be released on humanitarian grounds, and is seeking amnesty instead, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. A plea for amnesty implies forgiveness for some offense. The women -- Laura Ling and Euna Lee -- were sentenced in June to 12 years in prison on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign. Laura Ling's sister, Lisa Ling, told CNN Friday night ...

After weeks of silence, the sister of one of the two American journalists imprisoned in North Korea finally got a phone call. "It was only the first time I had heard her voice in weeks. ... I was so relieved but I feel so helpless," Lisa Ling, a CNN contributor, told affiliate KOVR in an interview Wednesday. "Because as an older sister, a best friend, a self-professed 'doer,' it's just difficult to know I cannot do anything to bring her ...

The Swedish ambassador met with two imprisoned American journalists in Pyongyang on Tuesday, a state department spokesman said, their first visit with him since a North Korean court handed down their 12-year sentence. The spokesman said he could not provide details of the conversation between the Swedish ambassador and Current TV journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling. The journalists were apprehended in March near North Korea's border with China and accused of illegally crossing the border and plotting a smear ...

Two U.S. journalists detained in North Korea while covering the plight of defectors living along the China-North Korea border have been sentenced to 12 years in labor camps, the country's state-run media said Monday. The Central Court of North Korea sentenced Laura Ling and Euna Lee for the "grave crime they committed against the Korean nation and their illegal border crossing," the Korean Central News Agency said Monday. Ling and Lee were taken into custody March 17. They are ...

The families of two U.S. journalists detained in North Korea made public pleas for their release as their trial and the threat of years in labor camps loom. The women, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, are to go on trial Thursday on spying charges. "Our families have been quiet because the situation is very sensitive and we've been really trying to allow diplomacy to take its course," Lisa Ling, Laura's sister, said on CNN's "Larry King Live" on Monday night. ...

Two American journalists will be tried in a North Korean court on June 4, Pyongyang's official news agency said Thursday. The two reporters for Current TV, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, are accused of entering the country illegally and intending "hostile acts." Ling and Lee were taken into custody March 17 along the China-North Korea border. Groups representing journalists have lashed out at North Korea for detaining the two reporters. The International Press Institute last month called on North ...

Two U.S. journalists will stand trial for alleged crimes in North Korea, the government announced Friday. "A competent organ of [North Korea] concluded the investigation into the journalists of the United States," state-run news service KCNA reported. "The organ formally decided to refer them to a trial on the basis of the confirmed crimes committed by them." The two reporters for Current TV, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, are accused of entering the country illegally and intending "hostile acts." KCNA ...

North Korea has concluded an investigation of two detained American journalists, and they will stand trial, according to the nation's state-run news service, KCNA. "A competent organ of (North Korea) concluded the investigation into the journalists of the United States," the news service reported Friday. "The organ formally decided to refer them to a trial on the basis of the confirmed crimes committed by them." The two journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, entered the country illegally and intended "hostile ...