North Korea: U.S. Journalists Crossed Border With 'Motives to Stifle and Insult' Nation

June 16, 2009 -- U.S. journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were sentenced to 12 years in a North Korean labor camp last week, were reportedly filming video while entering the country illegally, which, according to North Korean media sources, prompted their arrest.

In a rare report today describing the incident and the trial process, North Korea claimed that the two journalists admitted to illegal entry and accepted their sentences to 12 years in a labor camp.

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 last week on charges of "hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry," which, until today's report, were relatively vague.

The detailed report, released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and entitled "Befitting Judgment for American Criminals Committing Anti-National Acts of Hostility," says that from the point when the journalists were planning the trip in the United States, to their research trip to South Korea, and then to China, the video-taped content "show[s] their acts of hostility prompted by extremely rude political motives to stifle and insult our nation's images."

The report says that Ling and Lee crossed the borders from China into North Korea with "political intentions to abuse and slander the human rights situation in our country and to isolate and stifle the socialist system of the DPRK by concocting false video footage," which is why the National Criminal Law No.69 of a "hostile act toward the nation" was applied.

In their video tape, the journalists are reportedly recorded saying, "We have just entered the North Korean territory without permission," and filmed themselves picking up a stone as a token of crossing the border. According to KCNA's report, the video illustrates why the journalists were sentenced for illegal entry.

The KCNA said today it is announcing details "to inform the world about the crimes the Americans have committed" at a time "when unprecedented confrontational situation against the U.S. has been created on the Korean peninsula."

N. Koreans Tie Journalists to Nukes

In sharp contrast to the Obama administration's effort to separate the trial of the two journalists from the current nuclear standoff, North Korea hinted at its intention to keep the issues related.

"We are sharply and closely keeping an eye on the fact that the United States initiated a criminal act against the DPRK," the report said.

North Korea also claimed that both journalists were provided with their own translators during the trial. Ling, upon request, was provided a lawyer, but Lee "gave up" her chance to choose hers.

Their 12-year prison term is to be counted from March 22, when they were formally detained for an investigation. They cannot appeal.

Families Fought to Secure Journalists' Release

News of their 12-year sentence came as a bombshell to the families, as the U.S. government worked feverishly for their freedom.

"She's really scared," "Nightline" contributor Lisa Ling said of her sister in a recent 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."

Lisa Ling said they never intended to cross into North Korea and has apologized if they, indeed, left China unintentionally.

"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."

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.

The sentencing came 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.

Lisa Ling tried to relay her sister's message publicly, urging direct communication between the United States and North Korea even as tensions between the two countries are ratcheting up, with North Korea's recent missile and underground nuclear tests.

"Given everything that's happening in the news -- I mean we're talking about what seems to be a full-blown nuclear standoff, and my little sister and Euna Lee are seemingly in the midst of it, and we just felt like it was really time to try and urge our two countries to communicate on our issue and to separate it," Lisa said. "Our issue is a humanitarian issue, and we hope that our two countries that don't have a diplomatic relationship can come together to resolve this and try and get the girls released."

Lisa Ling: Families Deeply Affected by Absence

"My sister is my best friend on earth," said Lisa Ling, who reports for several news organizations and is a former co-host of ABC's "The View."

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

Since the arrest, Lisa Ling has spent almost every weekend with 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 Ling 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."

Before the sentencing, Ling told ABC News Lisa that she keeps a positive outlook by envisioning the moment she and her sister are reunited.

"I do believe in the fundamental good in people," she said. "And these are good girls. These are not spies. I mean it's my baby sister, you know?

"I have to believe that the good in people will -- and the truth -- will set them free. I have to believe that."

ABC News' Katie Bosland, Sarah Netter and Katie Hinman contributed to this report.