Two American journalists, having been arrested for illegal entry into North Korea, were sentenced to twelve years hard labor before being pardoned two months later.

On March 17, 2009, North Korean soldiers detained two American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who were working for the American-based independent television station Current TV, at the Tumen River on the China–North Korea border. It is contested whether the film crew entered North Korea, or was pursued and arrested on the Chinese side of the river. They were found guilty of illegal entry and sentenced to twelve years' hard labor in June 2009. The North Korean leader Kim Jong Il pardoned the two on August 5, 2009, the day after the former U.S. president Bill Clinton arrived in the country on a publicly unannounced visit.