Journalists sentenced to 12 years in labour camp

North Korea has convicted two US journalists and sentenced them to 12 years in a labour camp.

The official Korean Central News Agency said the Central Court tried American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee from June 4 to 8.

It said today the trial confirmed an unspecified “grave crime” against the nation, and of illegally crossing into North Korea.

The report says the court “sentenced each of them to 12 years of reform through labour”.

The US 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 UN 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 on 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.

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.