North Korea jails US journalists

Guards

from

the

North

arrested

the

pair

while

they

were

working

near

the

country's

border

with

China

on

March

17th.

They

have

now

been

convicted

of

hostile

acts

against

the

country,

and

entering

the

North

illegally.

They

face

the

prospect

of

being

sent

to

one

of

the

North's

prison

camps.

The

US

State

Department

has

described

conditions

in

these

institutions

as

'harsh'

and

'life-threatening'.

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Before

the

verdicts

came

in,

the

US

Secretary

of

State

Hilary

Clinton

had

described

the

charges

against

the

two

women

as

'baseless'

and

said

they

should

be

allowed

to

return

home.

She

is

thought

to

be

exploring

the

possibility

of

sending

an

envoy

to

try

to

secure

their

release.

There's

been

speculation

in

recent

days

that

the

former

US

vice

president

Al

Gore

might

travel

to

Pyongyang.

He's

the

co-founder

of

the

media

company

the

two

women

work

for.

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Chris

Hogg,

BBC

News,

Seoul