U.S. calls on N. Korea to free journalists

PYONGYANG, North Korea, June 8 (UPI) -- The Obama administration Monday said all avenues were under review to gain release of two U.S. journalists sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in North Korea.

Both the White House and the State Department also called for the release of Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee on humanitarian grounds, CNN reported.

Ling and Lee have been detained since March 17, when they were arrested along the North Korea-Chinese border. The country's highest Central Court sentenced Ling and Lee Thursday for an unexplained "grave crime" and illegal entry, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. The court's actions cannot be appealed.

A State Department spokesman told CNN the sentencing was confirmed through diplomatic channels after having been reported by North Korea's state-run news agency.

"We are deeply concerned by the reported sentencing of the two American citizen journalists by North Korean authorities, and we are engaged through all possible channels to secure their release," State Department spokesman Ian Kelley said in a statement. "We once again urge North Korea to grant the immediate release of the two American citizen journalists on humanitarian grounds."

White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said President Obama "is deeply concerned by the reported sentencing of the two American citizen journalists by North Korean authorities."

The New York Times reported the journalists' case comes as Pyongyang has threatened retaliation if the United Nations punished it for its nuclear test last month.

The report said the United States has warned it might try to put North Korea back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism, which could bring additional financial sanctions.