Detained U.S. journalists to be put on trial in North Korea

A pair of American journalists detained in North Korea on charges of illegally entering the country through the Chinese border will be put on trial, The New York Times reports Tuesday.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee of San Francisco-based Current TV "will be indicted and tried on charges of perpetrating ‘hostile acts’ against the Communist state," which may be punishable by five or more years in labor camp, the Times said. The journalists had been reporting on North Korean refugees living in China.

According to Reuters, a U.S. State Department spokesman said the government is "still in the process of working diplomatically . . . to achieve a favorable outcome."