* Picture was shamelessy taken from LA Observed.

Reuters and the BBC report that North Korea has sentenced our brave heroes Euna Lee and Laura Ling to 12 years of hard labour in North Korea's concentration camps.

We pray for their expedited release and safe return to their families and friends over here in the United States of America.

In the meantime, please join this facebook group for updates and a show of solidarity.

Read a harrowing account of Laura Ling's phone call to her older sister posted at the Huffington Post.

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Lisa Ling: It's been really hard to be quiet because all the news reports just kind of said two U.S. journalists...and I don't think people realized that one is my little sister who has a serious medical condition. She's had a recurring ulcer for almost two years now and you know Lee is the mother of an extraordinarily beautiful four-year-old daughter who misses her mother desperately. That has been the hard thing -- we haven't been able to just let people know who they are. Laura is incredibly smart and selfless and kind. She is the one person in the family that people just kind of gravitate to... I think -- although my cousins will get jealous -- that she was my grandmother's favorite. Just because she spent that time that, you know, we all find ourselves too busy to spend and that's how Laura is. She is just a very selfless person.

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Also, please if you can, send a thank you email to Mats Foyer, the Swedish ambassador who represents US interests in North Korea.  I'm damn sure he tried his best.  If anyone can post a contact in the comments, I'd super appreciate it.