Lisa Ling, sister of Laura Ling, confirmed today the Laura and Euna Lee did in fact break North Korean law, and were rightfully convicted and imprisoned in North Korea. Lisa said on CNN it was professional duty to research a story on human trafficking that led Current TV journalist Laura and Euna into North Korea on March 17.

According to Lisa, Laura Ling (32), admitted to family members that she "very briefly" trespassed into enemy territory with colleague Euna Lee, 36. This led North Korea to detain the two journalists and sentence them to 12 years hard labor, which resulted in an international incident that this week saw former President Bill Clinton meet with North Korea’s President Kim Jong Il to arrange the release of the women, who were returned to American soil Wednesday.

"She did say that they touched North Korean territory very, very briefly," Lisa Ling, 35, told CNN on Thursday. "She said that it was maybe 30 seconds, and everything just got sort of chaotic." Adding that Laura has details she will provide, Lisa noted, "It’s a very powerful story and she does want to share it."

In a phone conversation with Meredith Vieira that was aired live on Friday’s Today" show, Lisa (who, like Vieira, is a former cohost on The View), said it may take Laura some time to tell her tale, given that during her imprisonment she spent weeks not uttering a word.

"Even getting sentences out is challenging, because she’s not used to talking as much,” Lisa said of Laura’s current condition. "So we’re just taking things very, very easy with her."

She did say that her sister, who is at home with her family, is enjoying have fresh food again after subsisting on a less-than-adequate diet while under North Korean detention: primarily rice mixed with rocks, small vegetables and fragments of fried fish, "which she developed a reaction to," Lisa told CNN.

"Bathing was a little bit difficult because they didn’t have hot water," she also said. "So she would fill up buckets and she would say, ’Okay, on Saturday I’m going to wash my hair.’ "

As for those who stood watch over her sister, Lisa said, "I think she won a lot of her captors over. She had some really lovely things to say about the people who were watching her. She had two guards in her room at all times. And even though they couldn’t speak together, they developed a sort of strange kinship."

Perhaps the most moving sight as the two women left the plane that brought them to the Bob Hope International Airport in Burbank, California, on Wednesday was Euna Lee’s embracing her young child Hana. Now that the mother is home, said Lisa Ling, "I hear that Euna’s 4-year old daughter does not want her to leave her sight. She keeps following her from room to room."

Someone needs to keep an eye on Euna since she seems prone to make stupid decisions.

The North Korean border, from what I understand, is made up of a river, so stepping onto North Korean territory would require a boat, and once arriving a person would stay only 30 seconds, especially if they were following a story. It’s blatantly obvious Laura and Euna are liars. They should have served out their sentence, and kept their dignity, but instead they have returned to sell their story.

Thank to these two stupid criminals one of our most admired Presidents sat and showed his respect to Kim Jong Il, and even did a photo shoot with him, all at a time when Kim Jong Il has restarted his country’s nulcear program using our money meant to help his people. Nice job Laura and Euna, you’ve made the United States look like even bigger fools in the eyes of the world. Laura and Euna are both a disgrace. These two criminals deserve no more sympathy than any other criminal. These two are not the victims, the American people are. The pictures below show our now disgraced ex President Bill Clinton with Kim Jong Il.

I don’t blame Bill Clinton for wanting to help, when it comes to women, he’s always thinking with his little Bill.

The Lisa Ling CNN interview is below.

Laura Ling (32) and Euna Lee (36) got really lucky. The pair’s boss, Al Gore, was unsuccessful in getting them released from a North Korean prison, but his former boss Bill Clinton was successful, and they are heading home on Clinton’s play to Los Angeles. Kim Jong Ill pardoned the trespassers after meeting with Clinton. The families of the former criminals said in a statement:

"We are counting the seconds to hold Laura and Euna in our arms."

"The families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee are overjoyed by the news of their pardon. We especially want to thank President Bill Clinton for taking on such an arduous mission and Vice President Al Gore for his tireless efforts to bring Laura and Euna home. We must also thank all the people who have supported our families through this ordeal, it has meant the world to us."

We hope Ling and Lee have learned their lesson.

The Central Court, the highest court of North Korea, held a trial for Laura Ling and Euna Lee from Thursday to Monday and convicted them of "committing hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry." Ling and Lee were sentenced to 12 years hard labor for illegal entry into North Korea.

The families of the two convicted women released the following statement:

"The families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee are shocked and devastated by the outcome their trial. Laura and Euna are journalists who went to the China-North Korea border to do a job. We don’t know what really happened on March 17, but if they wandered across the border without permission, we apologize on their behalf and we are certain that they have also apologized."

"We believe that the three months they have already spent under arrest with little communication with their families is long enough. We ask the Government of North Korea to show compassion and grant Laura and Euna clemency and allow them to return home to their families."

The two families tell say they are "very concerned about their mental state and well being," adding that they fear that Ling, who suffers from a stomach ulcer, may have her condition "exacerbated by the drastic sentence."

The families also reveal that Lee’s 4-year-old daughter has been showing "anguish over the absence of her mother."

Boohoo! I may not agree with the decision that North Korea made to convict, rather than scold and release these two women, but it is possible the women were convicted for breaking North Korean law, and given a fair sentence.

Ling knew about her "ulcer" before she went on this risky trip, and if she needed treatment she should have got it before going, just in case she got caught and sentenced to jail.

Lee didn’t need to leave her 4 year-old daughter to go on this risky trip, but that was her decision, and now she’ll have to live with it.

Both women work for liberal democrat program Current TV, which Al Gore is a big part of. Al offered to help negotiate the release of the women, but the North Korean’s told him to stick it.

I’d like to see Ling and Lee get released, but I won’t feel sorry for them if they serve the entire 12 years. Hopefully these two will finally learn the lesson that they must take responsibility for their actions. If you can’t take the heat, stay out of the fire.

The part of this that is unfair is the fact that Ling and Lee made a reckless decision that is causing their families to feel pain that could have easily been avoided.