SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - The sister of an American journalist sentenced with a co-worker to 12 years in a North Korean labor camp says a government pardon is their only hope for freedom.

Lisa Ling told The Associated Press on Thursday that her sister, Laura, made the plea during a 20-minute telephone call Tuesday.

Lisa Ling says her sister called to say that she and fellow journalist Euna Lee had broken the law in North Korea when they were captured in March.

Last month, the journalists for San Francisco-based Current TV were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for entering the country illegally and "hostile acts."

Vigils for the women were planned Thursday in several cities, including Sacramento, where the Lings grew up.