U.S. seeks 'amnesty' for 2 journalists

SACRAMENTO, July 10 (UPI) -- U.S. officials have asked North Korea to grant "amnesty" to two American journalists jailed there, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday.

The plea, implying guilt on the part of the two women, marks a shift from the U.S. stance the two journalists had been held on "baseless" accusations and should be freed on humanitarian grounds, The New York Times said.

"The two journalists and their families have expressed great remorse for this incident, and I think everyone is very sorry that it happened," Clinton said Friday in a session with State Department employees, the newspaper said. "What we hope for now is that these two young women would be granted amnesty through the North Korean system and be allowed to return home to their families as soon as possible."

The journalists -- Laura Ling, 36, and Euna Lee, 32 -- reporters for Current TV, based in San Francisco, were sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labor. At a trial, they had been accused of entering North Korea illegally and committing "hostile acts."

The shift in Clinton's tone came after Lisa Ling, the sister of Laura Ling, told KOVR-TV in Sacramento she and Lee had violated North Korean law, The Washington Post reported Friday.

The broadcast report quoted Lisa as saying: "We violated North Korean law and we need our government to help us. We're sorry about everything that happened but now we need diplomacy."

Human rights advocates in South Korea say the two women were reporting on North Korean women sold through human traffickers and refugees fleeing hunger in North Korea, the Times reported.

After weeks of keeping a low profile, Ling's family has changed strategy and launched a media offensive, The Sacramento Bee reported Friday. Lisa Ling, also a journalist, spoke to a crowd of more than 300 people who turned Thursday in Sacramento to call for the release of the journalists.

"She just needs the help of our government," Lisa Ling said. "Only through the government does she have the hope of being released."