http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_12548887

Three months ago, they were two young American journalists in search of a story. Now they are bargaining chips in what is being called a "high-stakes poker game" between the United States and the hermit nation of North Korea.

On Monday, the families of California TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee were doing everything possible to persuade the North Koreans to release the two women, who over the weekend were convicted and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for a "grave crime" against the country.

The families of the two women issued an emotional appeal and an apology as speculation grew that either New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson or former Vice President Al Gore — co-founder of San Francisco-based Current TV, for which the journalists work — could be sent to North Korea to negotiate for their release.

The families late Monday issued a statement alluding to the diplomatic sensitivities of the women's arrest and subsequent trial, which came at a time of heightened international tension over North Korea's nuclear program.

"We are very concerned about their mental state and well-being," the statement said. "We believe that the three months they have already spent under arrest with little communication with their families is long enough."

The statement said that Ling has a "serious medical condition that is sure to be exacerbated by the drastic sentence," and Lee has a 4-year-old daughter "who is displaying signs