North Korea to put 2 US journalists on trial

North Korea has announced that it put US journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling on trial on June 4th. North Korea accuses the journalists of illegally entering the country with "hostile" intenet. Reuters

SEOUL, May 14 (Reuters) - North Korea said on Thursday it would put two U.S. journalists it arrested in March on trial on June 4, ratcheting up tension with Washington after a rocket launch and a threat to conduct a nuclear test.

Analysts said the reclusive North sees the two reporters as bargaining chips to try to win concessions out of the government of U.S. President Barack Obama, which is pressing Pyongyang to return to stalled nuclear disarmament talks. [ID:nT37605]

Euna Lee and Laura Ling, of U.S. media outlet Current TV, were arrested along the North Korea-China border. They were accused of illegally entering North Korea with "hostile" intent and Pyongyang has said they face criminal charges.

"The Central Court of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) decided to try the American journalists on June 4 according to the indictment of the competent organ," the official KCNA news agency said in a one-sentence dispatch.