If they were you can understand why the North Koreans might assume Americans entering the country secretly could have hostile intent.
They should be returned without sentence but the North Korean decision is not irrational.
SANG-HUN
Published: June 09, 2009
SEOUL, South Korea - With the Obama administration signaling a tougher response toward Pyongyang after weeks of growing tension, North Korea's highest court on Monday sentenced two American journalists to 12 years of hard labor, dramatically raising the stakes in its confrontation with the United States.
The sentencing introduced yet one more imponderable factor into Washington's stand-off with North Korea over its nuclear ambitions. The court's decision came as the United States displays increasing impatience with what President Obama has called Pyongyang's "extraordinarily provocative" behavior in recent weeks. For its part, the North Korean leadership has shown no sign of backing away from its taunts and challenges directed at the United States and its regional allies.
"This is a high-stakes poker game," said Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico who as a congressman helped negotiate the release of American citizens held in North Korea in the 1990s. He was speaking on NBC's "Today" show and called the sentence "harsher than expected."
North Korea's Central Court convicted the two Americans, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, of "committing hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry," the North's official news agency, KCNA, said in a report monitored in Seoul.
James Morton
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