Two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, were arrested after entering North Korea in 2009.

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In a letter Laura Ling sent to her family, she asked them to remain strong.

CNN: Families lobby media before journalists' North Korean trial

That's what Kim Jong Il successfully did with two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, earlier this year.

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Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for California-based Current TV, were jailed for illegally entering North Korea and sentenced to 12 years hard labour.

BBC: US citizens held by North Korea

In one of the most high-profile cases, Mr Clinton negotiated the release in 2009 of two US journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who had been found guilty of entering North Korea illegally.

BBC: North Korea to issue verdict on US citizen

No one quite knew what Current was during the years when it aired mostly low-rent entertainment fare and was famous mainly for North Korea taking two of its correspondents, including Lisa Ling's sister Laura, into custody.

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