Lisa Ling on Journalists: 'These Are Not Spies'

"Nightline" contributor Lisa Ling, right, with her sister Laura, detained in North Korea since March 17.

(Courtesy of Lisa Ling )

Lisa Ling: Sister 'Is My Best Friend'

"We both travel all over the world and I don't think that there has been a single day that we haven't spoken. I mean, I can be in the middle of the Himalayas and she can be in the Ukraine, and we'll somehow manage to get a phone call out.

"And so to not have been able to talk to her in months has been so hard."

Lisa said she's been keeping a vigil with her parents and Laura's husband of five years, Iain Clayton.

Since the arrest, Lisa has spent almost every weekend with Euna Lee's husband, Michael Saldate, and the couple's 4-year-old daughter.

"Euna has this beautiful 4-year-old daughter, Hana," Ling said. "And when she walked into the door of our home our hearts just broke because her husband Michael has all of a sudden kind of become a single parent instantly."

Lisa said Lee's prolonged absence is beginning to affect Hana. "She drew a picture the other day that just had her dad and her in it. Her mom wasn't in the picture, and he said that that's the first time that that's ever happened."

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Detained Journalists to Face Trial

Ling and Lee are scheduled to go on trial in North Korea Thursday. They've been charged with hostile acts. If found guilty, they could be sentenced to up to 10 years in jail.

"The details of the day they were arrested are very vague," said Lisa. "They were working on a story about the trafficking of women along the China-North Korea border. ... They were expected to be home two days later, so whatever happened that day, it was not their intention to cross the border.

"We don't know if they actually did, but if at any point they crossed into North Korean territory then we profusely apologize on their behalf, because we know that they never intended to do that when they left the United States."

Lisa said the families are anxious about the looming trial date.

"We don't really know much about the trial," she said. "We're told that they're going to have a lawyer appointed to them from North Korea.

"You know they've been there for almost three months, and they have been citing this June 4 trial date, so what we are hoping and praying is that they get a fair trial and when they conclude the trial they will show mercy and let the girls come home to their families."