2 Americans illegally crossed into N-Korea

SEOUL, South Korea – Two American journalists sentenced in Pyongyang last week to 12 years' hard labor were detained in North Korean territory after crossing into the country illegally, state-run media said Tuesday, providing the first details about the circumstances of their arrest.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee of Current TV were taken into custody on the North Korean banks of the Tumen River after crossing over from China illegally three months ago, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

The women, tried in North Korea's highest court earlier this month, "admitted and accepted" their punishment of 12 years' hard labor for committing politically motivated "criminal acts," the report said.

"The accused admitted that what they did were criminal acts committed, prompted by the political motive to isolate and stifle the socialist system of the DPRK by faking up moving images aimed at falsifying its human rights performance and hurling slanders and calumnies at it," it said.

The DPRK refers to North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

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