WORLD BRIEFING / NORTH KOREA
North Korea said that two U.S. journalists arrested in the communist nation near its border with China two months ago will be put on trial June 4.
Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency gave no other details in its brief dispatch, including what charges the women face.
North Korean media previously have said that the journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, are accused of illegal entry and unspecified “hostile” acts.
Under North Korea’s criminal code, conviction for illegal entry could mean up to three years in a labor camp.
Espionage or “hostility toward North Koreans” -- possible crimes that could fall into the category of hostile acts -- could mean five to 10 years in prison, South Korean officials say.
The journalists, who work for San Francisco-based Current TV, were detained March 17 near the border while reporting on refugees living in China.
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