Families plead for 2 journalists' release

WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) -- Family members of the two U.S. journalists jailed in North Korea appealed for the women's release Wednesday, saying they feared for their well-being.

Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced this month to 12 years in prison on charges of illegally entering North Korea for the purpose of committing "hostile acts."

"We are particularly concerned about their mental state," Ling's sister, Lisa Ling, said on CNN Tuesday. "I'm sure they are just traumatized, because we haven't heard anything from them."

The two were arrested in March while reporting on North American defectors along the North Korea-China border.

North Korea's state-run media released a "detailed report" Tuesday, saying Ling and Lee entered the country illegally to record material for a "smear campaign" against the communist state.

"All we can say is they are journalists and they were doing their job," said Lisa Ling, a CNN special correspondent. "My sister has been a journalist for years. And that is really all we can say. We weren't in the courtroom. We don't know any sort of specifics other than what was released."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has asked for the journalists' immediate release on humanitarian grounds.