North Korea has sentenced two American journalists who were detained for illegal entry in late March to 12 years of forced labor.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Monday that the North's Central Court found Laura Ling and Euna Lee guilty of illegal entry and hostile acts, and sentenced them to 12 years each in labor camps.

KCNA said the trial for the two female journalists lasted five days from June fourth to the eighth.

In an unusual move, KCNA reported the launch of the trial on June fourth, but did not disclose the results of the trial until Monday morning.

Their sentence is likely to be the final verdict since the Central Court is the highest court in the communist country.

The two reporters of San Francisco-based Current TV were detained by North Korea on March 17th while filming a documentary along the North's border with China.