Korean Peninsula Today, 25 - 27 July 2009

NK Shows Interest in Bilateral Talks With US (Korea Times)

While reaffirming its stance that it would not return to the six-party talks, North Korea on Saturday expressed its interest of holding bilateral talks with the United States.

"We are not against a dialogue. We are not against any negotiations on issues of common concern," Sin Son-ho, North Korea's U.N. ambassador told reporters in New York, Yonhap reported.

Sin also said the country will not return to the multinational platform of negotiation aimed at discussing how to dissuade the nation's nuclear ambition.

Sin also vowed North Korea will not withdraw from the U.N. membership in its protest against the sanctions the world body imposed on the reclusive nation. "That will never happen," he said.

He added the U.N. 1874 resolution meted out against the nation for its launching a long-range missile and the subsequent nuclear test, was an "unfair" act, only meant to make the nation a common enemy of the global community. "Our stance is that we will never accept this kind of resolution," he said.

Earlier on Thursday in Bangkok, Ri Hung-sik, director-general of the North Korean foreign ministry's international bureau, also said that North Korea "is not opposed to dialogue" with the US.

XXXXXXXXXX

North Korea Slams Planned South Korea-US Military Drill (Yonhap)

SEOUL – North Korea lashed out at South Korea's planned military exercise with the United States Sunday, saying it is a provocative act against the communist country.

South Korea and the US plan to conduct Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG), an annual joint military exercise in which about 56,000 South Korean troops and 10,000 US soldiers will participate, from Aug. 17-27.

The exercise is "a military plan aimed at invading the North, given its content and size," Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency and the Korean Central TV Broadcasting Station said.

The military exercise sheds light on "the shady intention harbored behind the South's banner of peace guarantee and dialogue," they said.

South Korea and the US claim UFG is a defensive drill that is basically a computer-simulated war scenario.

The joint exercise comes as tension runs high on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea conducted a nuclear test in May and fired several missiles into the East Sea, for which the United Nations has imposed sanctions on the communist country.

Washington currently maintains some 28,500 troops in Korea as a deterrent against provocations from North Korea. The two Koreas remain technically at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended only with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

XXXXXXXXXX

North Korea, US in 'active Consultations' on Detained Reporters (Yonhap)

SEOUL – North Korea and the United States are in "active consultations" on how to resolve a standoff over two American journalists detained in the secretive communist nation, an informed diplomatic source here said Sunday [26 July].

The ongoing consultations through the North's diplomatic mission to the U.N., often called the "New York channel," are focused on who the U.S. government should send as a special envoy to Pyongyang to bring back the two female reporters, the source added.

"The U.S. has in principle reached a compromise with North Korea on the dispatch of a special envoy for their release," the source told Yonhap News Agency, requesting anonymity apparently due to the sensitivity of the issue. "The two sides are continuing related consultations. You may say 70-80 percent of the negotiations are done."

Laura Ling and Euna Lee of the San Francisco-based media group Current TV, co-founded by former vice president Al Gore, were arrested in mid-March near the China-North Korea border while on a reporting trip on refugees fleeing the impoverished North.

They were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor on charges of illegal entry and "hostile acts."

A main sticking point in efforts to free them, according to the source, is the North's demand for the Obama administration to send a high-ranking government official.

Washington, not wanting to link the humanitarian issue with the diplomatic dispute over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs, prefer to send a civilian, the source said.

After months of provocations, highlighted by its second nuclear test on May 25, North Korea is beginning to hint at a desire for talks with the U.S.

"We are not against dialogue. We are not against any negotiation on issues of common concern," North Korean ambassador to the United Nations Sin Son-ho was quoted as saying by foreign news media over the weekend. Sin's comments, though reaffirming Pyongyang's resistance to multilateral disarmament talks, came on the heels of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) held last week in Thailand, in which U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Pyongyang to choose between dialogue and continued sanctions.

Ri Hung-sik, head of the North Korean foreign ministry's international organization bureau, also refrained from flatly rejecting talks with the U.S. in a brief meeting with Yonhap at the ARF. "Let's wait and see," he responded when asked if the North's delegation was willing to meet with the U.S. side. Such flexibility was in stark contrast with Clinton's remarks to reporters that she would not meet bilaterally with the North Korean delegation led by Amb. Pak Kun-gwang, a vice foreign minister-level official.

Clinton expressed hope, even though she did not meet with the North Koreans during the regional forum, that Pyongyang will release the detained journalists. "I am very hopeful" of their release, she said in a media interview last week.

"The young women themselves have, apparently, admitted that they probably did trespass so they are deeply regretful and we are very sorry it's happened," she said. "I actually feel as though our message is getting through to North Korea."

XXXXXXXXXX

Civic Group Urges North Korea to Release Detainee (Korea Times)

About 1,200 people, including 150 lawmakers, have signed up to urge North Korea to release a South Korean, who has been held in the North for the past four months, organizers said Sunday [26 July].

A Seoul-based human rights group launched a nationwide campaign for the detainee after the Ministry of Unification called the detention as a top priority in inter-Korean talks to resolve issues regarding the operation of the joint Gaeseong Industrial Complex.

During the talks, North Korean officials declined to give details of the circumstances facing the detainee, a Hyundai Asan worker who was identified only as Yoo, simply saying he was doing fine.

The South Korean worker who was detained by North Korea on March 30 for criticizing its political regime and soliciting North Korean workers to defect to the South.

The non-partisan group Citizens Alliance for North Korea Human Rights (CANHR) began the campaign for Yoo on July 16.

"We have no idea if the South Korean worker is doing fine or healthy. We are not even informed where he is now," said CANHR activist Park Soo-jin.

Park said her organization launched the campaign to remind the public of the fact that the problem is not settled yet and the South Korean worker lives under uncertainty. The campaign is to be continued until Aug. 15.

Earlier, the unification ministry stressed on several occasions that the detainee issue is a top priority when dealing with issues related to the Gaeseong complex.

Critics, however, say the government was slow and inactive when it came to the issue, compared with the U.S. government's response to two American journalists who were sentenced to 12 years in prison in June for an unspecified act of hostility and illegaly crossing the border line.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on July 10 that America was seeking amnesty for the two, Laura Ling and Euna Lee. "What we hope for now is that these two young women will be granted amnesty through the North Korean system and be allowed to return home to their families as soon as possible," Clinton was quoted as saying.

After the two American journalists were sentenced to hard labor in June, the White House also said the Obama administration considers the detention a humanitarian issue and is working to win the release of the two journalists.

Earlier, the U.S. government contacted the two journalists before the court sentencing through a Swedish diplomat based in North Korea and they had phone conversations with their families in the United States.

Lee Jong-joo, the unification ministry's spokeswoman, told The Korea Times that the two cases are separate.

"The North claimed that American journalists broke North Korean law. But the case involving the South Korean detainee is about an inter-Korean agreement," Lee said in an effort to clarify the difference between the two cases.

Lee denied the accusation the Korean government was inactive, stressing Minister Hyun In-taek addressed the issue publicly on several occasions.

XXXXXXXXXX

South to Resume Humanitarian Aid to North (Korea Times)

South Korea is likely to resume assistance to North Korea soon by funding local civic groups through the so-called inter-Korean cooperation fund, according to officials at the Ministry of Unification, Sunday.

Chilly relations between the two Koreas have suspended government-level aid to the isolated state since the inauguration of the South's Lee Myung-bak administration in February last year.

“Government officials will meet this week to make a decision on the distribution of the fund to civic organizations even though its scale will be decreased,'' a ministry official told The Korea Times.

Last year, the Lee administration supported civic groups with 10 billion won (about $8 million) for their aid operations.

The official continued, “Related procedures are almost done. The discussion will likely result in a ‘yes.’”

The meeting will be attended by Unification Minister Hyun In-taek and vice ministers from related government agencies.

About 10 organizations are expected to get benefits from the funding program for their projects to provide social minorities in North Korea with emergency aid.

Thirty other groups also applied for funding, but the government will take time to further review those programs, as well as to continue monitoring inter-Korean relations.

“The amount of funding and the number of beneficiaries are subject to change,'' another ministry official said.

The government received applications between February and March this year, originally planning to distribute the money from April.

But North Korea's provocative acts postponed the aid.

The secretive state detained a South Korean worker in a joint industrial area for alleged slandering on March 30, and launched a long-range rocket on April 5, despite repeated warnings from the international community as well as South Korea.

Moreover, Pyongyang conducted a second nuclear test on May 25, which worsened the public opinion here toward aid programs to North Korea.

Some observers of the situation say that the move to resume the funding program comes from the government's principle that it will continue humanitarian aid regardless of political factors.

Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung reiterated that humanitarian assistance to North Korea will go on since it has nothing to do with political wrangling.

However, the observers said that it is too early to judge whether South Korea is poised to amend its North Korea policy because of the tension triggered by the nuclear tests and the detainee issue.

The 40-year-old employee has been detained in the North for almost four months, given no chance to meet with South Korean officials.

Korean Peninsula Today, 21 July 2009

US Official Says DPRK Shows No Signs of Returning to Talks on Nuclear Program (AFP)

North Korea shows no signs yet of willingness to return to talks on its nuclear programme, a senior US envoy said Monday as he pushed a two-track strategy of tougher sanctions and offers of dialogue.

"Nothing right now," said Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, when asked by AFP if the North has shown any signs it is open to negotiation.

Campbell, making his first trip to South Korea since taking over the post last month, was speaking after a meeting with Seoul's nuclear negotiator Wi Sung-Lac.

"We have to closely work together on how to implement the Security Council resolution and on the other hand... we have to think about resumption of dialogue as well," Wi told the US envoy before their closed-door talks.

Campbell, on arrival from Japan Saturday, had outlined what he called a two-track strategy involving tougher sanctions but also negotiations if the North is willing to give up its nuclear ambitions.

The international standoff over the North's nuclear and missile programmes has intensified in recent months.

After the United Nations Security Council censured its April 5 long-range rocket launch, the North announced it was quitting six-party nuclear disarmament talks with the United States, South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan.

It staged its second nuclear test on May 25, prompting the Council to adopt a resolution imposing tougher sanctions.

Last Thursday it imposed a travel ban on five North Korean officials and asset freezes on five more entities involved in the banned weapons programmes.

Campbell Saturday had urged the impoverished North to return to six-party talks, warning it would otherwise face more isolation and economic hardship.

"Truth of the matter is, down this path North Korea has chosen lie greater tensions, greater hardships for its people, more isolation and lack of engagement in the international economy," he told journalists.

"I think it's unsustainable, and we believe that over time, North Korea will ultimately choose to re-engage."

After a scheduled meeting with Foreign Minister Yu Myung-Hwan Monday afternoon, Campbell was to leave for Thailand for the ASEAN Regional Forum on security issues. North Korea is expected to be high on the agenda.

XXXXXXXXXX

N. Korea, U.S. unlikely to have bilateral meeting at ASEAN forum (Yonhap)

SEOUL – North Korea and the United States are unlikely to hold a bilateral meeting at the upcoming ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which Pyongyang's chief diplomat is not expected to attend, Seoul's foreign minister said Monday.

North Korea has notified host Thailand that it will send a vice foreign minister-level official, not its Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun, to the forum set for Thursday in the Thai resort island of Phuket. The decision came as Pyongyang is locked in a tense standoff with the outside world over its missile and nuclear programs.

"It (bilateral contact) won't be easy, unless Foreign Minister Pak Ui-chun of the North is coming," Seoul's Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told reporters before leaving for Thailand.

Yu said the Thai government and other sources have confirmed to Seoul that the North is sending Park Keun-gwang, a vice foreign minister-level ambassador, to ARF on behalf of the foreign minister.

North Korea has often dispatched its foreign minister to the annual event, which groups 10 ASEAN member countries and 17 other nations. The participants include the U.S., China, Russia, Japan, and the two Koreas who make up the six-way talks on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

The U.S. has said its delegation, led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, will attend the ARF.

XXXXXXXXXX

N. Korea silent over possible flood damage (Yonhap)

SEOUL – Heavy rains hit Pyongyang and North Korea's northern region over the weekend, raising concerns of recurring casualties and damage to farms, but it is difficult for outsiders to assess the losses yet, Seoul officials said Monday.

The North's state media said Pyongyang had 233 millimeters of rain over the span of 18 hours. Yodok in South Hamgyong Province, a northern mountainous county infamous for a political prisoners' camp there, had 287mm, it said. There was no mention of flood damage.

"As of now, there have been reports on the amounts of rainfall, but none about any damage caused as a result. It is difficult to find out if there is any flood damage in the North" in the absence of North Korean media reports, Unification Minister Chun Hae-sung said in a briefing.

Officials in Seoul forecast that this year's damage so far may not be as severe as that which followed heavy rains in the country in 2006 or 2007. Since this year's monsoon season began on the peninsula on June 20, the rain has fallen intermittently and at irregular locations in North Korea, possibly lessening its impact, they said. Rainfall started in the South and moved northward.

"In 2007, the rain fell for over 10 days, and it came constantly, with precipitation of up to 700 millimeters. It's different now," a ministry official said, asking to remain anonymous.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration in Seoul, Pyongyang had 453mm of rain over the past three weeks, while the Pyonggang county in southern Kangwon Province had 643.5mm, and Kaesong, just north of the inter-Korean border, 358.7mm. Northern towns of Huichon in Jagang Province and Hamghung in South Hamgyong Province had 399.1mm and 219.3mm, respectively.

Kwon Tae-jin, an analyst with the state-run Korea Rural Economic Institute in Seoul, said the downpours in Pyongyang over the weekend "must have been difficult to handle," but there would have been far greater damage had the rain hit the country's central region, where the headwaters of the Taedong River and the Imjin River that flow westward originate.

"Heavy rains there (in the headwaters) directly affect the western region where 70 percent of North Korean farmlands are located. Rains in Pyongyang may affect households and facilities, but not much farmland," he said.

Kwon also said North Korea "won't try to hide its flood damage when it occurs at a time when international aid has already dwindled."

Seasonal floods are common in North Korea where decades of deforestation have left the country without a natural protection of tree cover.

Unusually mild weather last year allowed North Korea's grain harvest to expand to 4.3 million tons, compared with 4 million tons in 2007, according to South Korean government data.

Unprecedentedly heavy rainfall in July 2007 left about 500 people dead or missing and about 900,000 victims of the flood, according to North Korean and U.N. reports. Flood damage forced North Korea to postpone the second leaders' summit with South Korea to October from August that year.

After downpours in July 2006, 844 people were reported dead or missing, and 28,000 households were affected. No flood casualties were reported last year.

XXXXXXXXXX

U.S., DPRK Negotiate Over Detained Journalists (Chosun Ilbo)

The U.S. and North Korea have started delicate negotiations over two American journalists who were detained and sentenced to hard labor in North Korea, an influential source in Washington said Sunday. The next three or four weeks will be crucial in deciding whether the two women can walk free.

The U.S. House of Representatives intended last week to adopt a resolution urging the North to release reporters Euna Lee and Laura Ling, and the Senate intended to follow suit, but their plans have been postponed at the State Department's request, the source said. The State Department made the request to Congress because it fears that a resolution could anger the North at a time when the two countries have entered sensitive negotiations, the source added.

Earlier, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on July 10 asked the North to grant the two an amnesty and allow them to return home to their families.

John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who was the Democratic presidential candidate in 2004 and former U.S. vice president Al Gore, the founder of the TV station the two reporters work for are being mentioned as possible special envoys to Pyongyang, other sources said.

The U.S. government treats the release of the journalists is a separate issue from the North's nuclear provocations, but their release could lead to fresh nuclear talks.

Gary Samore, a non-proliferation expert and WMD coordinator at the White House, said, "All the sort of straws in the wind vindicate that North Koreans are probably looking for a way to get back to the bargaining table."

Korean Peninsula Today, 11 - 13 July 2009

China Preparing Its Own Sanctions on N. Korea (Chosun Ilbo)

China is preparing to impose independent sanctions on North Korea, according to a senior U.S. State Department official. The official in a press briefing held on Wednesday [8 July] said China is in the process of developing its own implementation plan to impose sanctions on North Korea.

That suggests China is willing to cooperate with the U.S. The remarks come after a series of visits to China by Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and Ambassador Philip Goldberg, the U.S. coordinator for the implementation of UN sanctions, in the wake of the UN Security Council's adoption in June of Resolution 1874 sanctioning North Korea for its nuclear test.

North Korea's international activities are apparently being strangled. The U.S. official said since the sanctions were imposed, the names of North Korean banks are found less frequently in some countries and North Korean enterprises are changing their names. He added ASEAN member states are also cooperating, having promised to enforce Resolution 1874.

Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Sam Brownback on Wednesday introduced a bill to relist North Korea as a country sponsoring terrorism and impose new economic sanctions.

This bill envisages the U.S. Treasury Department banning transactions between American banks and foreign banks with a history of dealing with the North Korean government or senior North Korean officials. The bill also envisages the U.S. State Department returning North Korea to the U.S. terror blacklist, from which it was struck last October.

XXXXXXXXXX

North Korea’s Kim has 'serious' Pancreas Disorder (AFP)

TOKYO -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is suffering from a "serious disorder" of the pancreas, a Japanese television network reported Friday, quoting a South Korean intelligence official.

The 67-year-old's condition has been the focus of much speculation since he reportedly suffered a stroke last August.

The TBS network reported that Kim has been resting and is being treated at his villa in the southeasten area of Wonsan by a team specialists.

The unidentified official told TBS Kim would be aware of the disorder which was made known to US and South Korean intelligence authorities in March.

Kim is believed to have been receiving treatment since he attended the first meeting of the country's new parliament in April, the official was quoted as saying.

In that month, he was shown in video footage by state media for the first time since August. He appeared to have lost weight in the film.

On Wednesday, a gaunt-looking Kim made a rare televised appearance as he paid homage to his late father Kim Il-Sung at a national memorial service. The film showed Kim's hair was thinning and he had developed a slight limp.

XXXXXXXXXX

CIA says “Kim Jong-il has 71% Probability of Death within Next Five Years” (Chosun Ilbo – Original in Korean)

“Aftereffects of Stroke and Diabetes”… Washington Times report “Can Live about One more Year.”

Chosun Ilbo has confirmed that the US CIA has recently notified the South Korean intelligence agency that Kim Jong-il’s probability of living beyond next five years is merely 29% based on analysis of his health conditions.

The government source said on the 10th that “we understand that the US CIA has passed to our intelligence agency last month detailed analysis of Kim’s health conditions.” “The CIA has concluded that probability of Kim’s death within the next five years due to aftereffects from stroke and diabetes is 71%,” the source added.

CIA reached its conclusion by conducting a comparative analysis between medical database and Kim’s observed health condition (i.e. age, medical conditions Kim is known to have, physical condition, stroke, timing of the stroke, changes in physical condition after the stroke, etc.). Specifically, the US agency arrived at its conclusion by analyzing survival probability over the next few years of the people who are similar in age with Kim Jong-il and has similar medical and physical conditions.

The CIA is known to have created an index of Kim Jong-il’s health condition by analyzing Kim’s photos; other open source reporting about Kim; his brain scan the South Korean intelligence agency acquired; testimonies of high level intelligence officials; and other intelligence materials. Although the South Korean intelligence agency has already reportedly concluded that it will be difficult for Kim Jong-il to live beyond five years, this is the first time that we confirmed specific analysis information of the US intelligence agency.

The Washington Times, on its 09 Jul edition, reported more pessimistic outlook for Kim Jong-il. "Kim Jong-il certainly hasn't been in good shape since his stroke last year, and, as time wears on, it's increasingly clear that he's not where he was before experiencing his health setback," Washington Times reported, and “that the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il continues to decline and that he may have only one more year to live.”

The Washington Times added,”Mr. Kim recently gave up Western medical treatment and is relying mostly on Asian remedies, including herbal brews and other nontraditional methods.” “Intelligence analysts had earlier concluded that he appeared to have recovered from the stroke and assessed that he remained firmly in control as the reclusive communist state's maximum leader. However, the announcement last month that Mr. Kim's third son, Kim Jong-un, would eventually take over from his father fueled speculation that Mr. Kim is in failing health,” the Washington Times also reported.

The South Korean intelligence agencies generally agree that although Kim Jong-il can generally move around, but his in not in good health; however, there are some differences of opinion among the agencies. The South Korean military intelligence agency believes Kim Jong-il is in serious health condition where as other agencies believe his condition is not as serious.

Chosun Ilbo has learned that the South Korean military intelligence agency is keeping a watchful eye on Kim Jong-il’s health especially after the release of Kim’s photographs on 14 Jun (Kim’s reported visit to the KPA 7th Division) because the military intelligence agency believes the photograph released on 14 Jun was actually the same picture released in Apr 09 after Kim’s visit to another military unit.

Lee Shang-hee, the Minister of National Defense, suggested that the South Korean military is focused on the possibility of Kim Jong-il’s worsening health during his testimony to the South Korean National Assembly on 30 Jun when he said, “Based on recent questions raised about Kim Jong-il’s photographs and his public appearances, our military is focused on surveilling the North with the possibility of Kim Jong-il’s worsening health in mind.”

XXXXXXXXXX

Is Jang Song-thaek Caretaker for NK's Leadership Change? (Korea Times)

Jang Song-thaek, Kim Jong-il's brother-in-law, has appeared with North Korean leader on numerous occasions this year during inspections and on-site visits, an indication of his pivotal role in the Stalinist state as a middle man in the power transfer after Kim suffered a serious stroke.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Jang, who was elevated to one of the eight members of the North's powerful National Defense Committee, accompanied the ailing North Korean leader 42 times out of a total 70 appearances in the first half of the year, the second highest following a secretary of the workers' party.

North Korea watchers speculated that Jang's frequent appearance with Kim has something to do with the 67-year old leader's dramatically declining health and to prepare for a possible sudden change of the leadership in the isolated state.

Kim's worsening health was visually obvious, seen from his appearance on state television last Wednesday to mark the 15th anniversary of the death of his father Kim Il-sung.

His hair looked thin, and he was gaunt looking and walking with a limp.

Citing a U.S. government official, The Washington Times reported that the North Korean leader was estimated to have a year to live.

The official was quoted as saying that ``Kim has essentially lost the ability to decide policy now and that is being carried out by a collective leadership made up of the Politburo, the party and the military.''

The North Korean leader reportedly appointed his 26-year old third son Jong-un as a next leader of the reclusive state.

North Korea experts here said Jang, who taught Jong-un when he took home-schooling before attending the International School of Berne in Switzerland, would play a pivotal role in paving the way for the less experienced younger Kim's succession to power.

Cheong Seong-chang, a senior fellow at the Sejong Institute, said Jang, who was close to Kim's third wife Ko Young-hee who died of breast cancer in 2004 in France, went through highs and lows in power struggle due to a remark made by Hwang Jang-yop in 2003.

Hwang, the highest-ranking defector to South Korea from the North, said in a seminar held in the National Assembly in July 2003 that Jang would probably become a leader of the communist state if a sudden change takes place.

Cheong said Hwang's analysis alerted Ko who was then the second person in North Korea because she probably felt threatened that ambitious Jang might endanger her or her son's heirship in the post Kim Jong-il era.

In July 2003, Jang disappeared from the public eye and he was suspended from duty until 2005.

Jang began accompanying Kim again from 2006, after Ko passed away.

North Korea watcher Cheong said Jang is now one of core supporters of Jong-un, dismissing some experts' speculation of power struggle in the North after any sudden change.

XXXXXXXXXX

U.S. Calls for Amnesty for American Journalists Jailed in Dprk (Xinhua)

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration on Friday called on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to grant amnesty to two female American journalists who were sentenced to 12 years in prison for "hostile actions" against the country.

"The two journalists and their families have expressed great remorse for this incident, and I think everyone is very sorry that it happened," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said.

The DPRK's highest court has sentenced the two journalists, who were captured for allegedly crossing the border from China and committing "hostile actions" against the country, to 12 years of what it calls "reform through labor."

"What we hope for now is that these two young women would be granted amnesty through the North Korean system and be allowed to return home to their families as soon as possible," said the state secretary.

Clinton's remarks came after the two journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, admitted they had violated the DPRK's law.

Earlier this week, Laura was allowed to phone her sister Lisa in California. Lisa later told reporters that her sister conveyed "a very specific message" that Euna and she had violated the DPRK' s law and they need the administration's help.

Following the sentence, the Obama administration has been trying to get the two journalists released by diplomatic channel, mainly Swedish Ambassador in Pyongyang Mats Foyer, whose country has diplomatic relations with the DPRK and offers services to U.S. citizens in the country.

"Clearly our bottom line is what it has always been, that we hope to have these two journalists released as rapidly as possible, " State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters at the daily press briefing.

"There has been a legal process in North Korea. Within the North Korean system, we would hope that there would be an amnesty that would allow that release to take place," said the spokesman.