North Korea said Tuesday that it will soon put to trial two American journalists detained on a border with China earlier this month for illegal entry and hostile acts.
"The illegal entry of U.S. reporters into the DPRK and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements, according to the results of intermediary investigation conducted by a competent organ of the DPRK," the North's official Korean Central News Agency was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.
The dispatch also said, "The organ is carrying on its investigation and, at the same time, making a preparation for indicting them at a trial on the basis of the already confirmed suspicions."
The reporters, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, from Current TV, a San Francisco-based Internet outlet, were taken by North Korean soldiers on March 17 along the Tumen River on the Chinese border while filming the North Korean side.
The statement comes just hours after U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Gordon Duguid told reporters that a Swedish diplomat had access to the American journalists over the past weekend, without elaborating on their condition.
The Swedish embassy in Pyongyang handles consular affairs involving American citizens in North Korea as Washington does not have diplomat relations with Pyongyang.
The KCNA statement conformed with Duguid's remarks, saying, "While the investigation is under way, consular contact is allowed and the treatment of U.S. reporters, etc., are given according to the relevant international laws."
The KCNA report did not specify the alleged hostile acts, but reports said that the American journalists are being probed for alleged espionage, which carries up to 20 years in prison under North Korean criminal code.
The State Department last week denied the alleged spying, saying, "The DPRK ... says only that the DPRK believes that the two journalists crossed the DPRK border illegally. The North has assured us that the detainees will be well treated."