U.S. Fighting North Korea Labor Camp Sentence for Laura Ling, Euna Lee

June 8, 2009 -- For two families praying for the release of U.S. journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the news that they were sentenced to 12 years in a North Korean labor camp comes as a bombshell as the U.S. government works feverishly for their freedom.

The two women, who were arrested in March while reporting for Al Gore's Current TV along the Chinese-North Korean border, were found guilty today of "hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry."

"She's really scared," "Nightline" contributor Lisa Ling said of her sister in a recent ABC News interview. "I mean, she's terrified. My sister is a wife, with a medical condition. And Euna Lee is the mother of a 4-year-old girl, who has been without her mother for almost three months."

The two journalists were working on a story about the trafficking of women along the North Korean border. Lisa Ling said they never intended to cross into North Korea and has apologized if they, indeed, left China unintentionally.

Friends have told ABC News that they hoped any sentence for Ling and Lee would be symbolic, and that the women would be allowed to return to the United States.

Either way, the sentencing comes amid a high-stakes international standoff over nuclear development. The United States has said it might start stopping North Korean ships and planes suspected of carrying weapons or nuclear technology.

"If we do not take significant and effective action against the North Koreans now, we'll spark an arms race in Northeast Asia," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Sunday in an interview on "This Week With George Stephanopoulos." "I don't think anybody wants to see that."

ABC News' Stephanopoulos said today on "Good Morning America" that the U.S government is working hard to secure the women's release. Clinton, he said, has even gone so far as to send a letter to the North Korean government apologizing for their actions and asking for them to be sent home.

And, he said, Gore has also been active behind the scenes. But North Korea may use the women's imprisonment as a bargaining chip for leniency on other issues, some observers say.