SEOUL, South Korea — Two American journalists detained at North Korea’s border with China earlier this month will be indicted and tried for illegal entry and hostile acts, Pyongyang’s state-run news agency said today.
The Korean Central News Agency report did not say when a trial might take place, but said moves to indict the Americans are underway as the investigation continues.
“The illegal entry of U.S. reporters into the DPRK and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements,” the report said, referring to the country by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Euna Lee and Laura Ling, reporters for former Vice President Al Gore’s San Francisco- based Current TV media venture, were detained by North Korean border guards March 17.
The KCNA report said consular officials would be allowed contact with the reporters during the investigation. The suspects will be treated “according to the relevant international laws,” it said.
Washington, which does not have diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, relies on the Swedish Embassy in the North Korean capital to represent the U.S.
State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said in Washington that a Swedish diplomat met with the journalists individually over the weekend.
Duguid on Monday provided no other details about the journalists or the weekend visit, citing privacy concerns.
All eyes on upcoming launch
SEOUL, South Korea — Japanese, South Korean and U.S. missile-destroying ships have set sail to monitor North Korea’s imminent All eyes on upcoming launchrocket
North Korea says it will send a communications satellite into orbit between Saturday and April 8. The U.S., South Korea and Japan suspect the regime is using the launch to test long-range missile technology.
Further heightening tensions on the divided peninsula, North Korean authorities detained a South Korean worker at a joint industrial zone in the North for allegedly denouncing Pyongyang’s political system and inciting female northern workers to flee the country. North Korea assured Seoul it would guarantee the man’s safety during an investigation, according to the South Korean Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North.
The Associated Press
