As expected, Americans Laura Ling and Euna Lee were put on trial in North Korea and the pair have just been sentenced to 12 years “reform through labor” in a prison camp, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The pair were reporting on the China-North Korea border for CurrentTV when they were arrested and jailed. The Obama administration has said they are trying “all possible channels” to resolve the matter and secure the women’s release, but North Korea has become increasingly hostile to negotiations over the past weeks and months. Ling and Lee have become pawns in high stakes political negotiations, and it may cost them their lives. The prison camps in North Korea have an alarmingly high death rate, according to reports.

After the news of Roxana Saberi’s imminent release this week comes a reminder of the harrowing situation of two American journalists currently held in North Korea. Laura Ling and Euna Lee were arrested on March 17 on the border between China and North Korea reporting on North Korean refugees for Current TV. The pair will be put on trial on June 4 for illegal entry and “hostile acts.” The court responsible for the trial, the Central Court, ordinarily hands down verdicts at the end of a one-day hearing, and the pair face at least 5 years in a labor camp for “hostile acts” and 3 years for illegal entry. According to the Washington Post, “Since the 1990s, at least three other Americans have been detained by the North for extended periods after entering the country. All three were released after negotiations.”