[JURIST] North Korean state media outlet Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) [media website, in Korean] announced Thursday that the Pyongyang Central Court has begun the trial of two US journalists [KCNA report, in Korean]. Laura Ling [professional website] and Euna Lee were arrested [JURIST report] in March for allegedly crossing into North Korea [Yonhap report] while reporting on North Korean refugees in China for Current TV [media website]. Ling and Lee are charged with unspecified "hostile acts," which the South Korea Ministry of Unification [official website] says may include espionage charges that carry a minimum sentence of five years in a labor camp. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton [official profile] called the charges "baseless," and Phillip Crowley [official profile], Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, said [transcript] that "there is no higher priority that we have than protection of American civilians abroad. And we … hope that North Korea will forego this legal process and return them to the United States." Free press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) [official website, in French] said that the women were arrested while conducting "solely journalistic" work, and called on the court to show lenience [press release, in French] by acquitting them on all charges.

The trial comes at a sensitive time for US-North Korean relations. Last week, North Korea conducted a second nuclear test [NYT report] in defiance of 2006 UN Security Council [official website] ban on nuclear or missile tests [Resolution 1718 text; JURIST report] by the country. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon [official profile] and other world leaders condemned [statement text] the test. In April, North Korea also violated the resolution when it fired a rocket [NYT report] in an attempt to put a satellite into space and test its missile technology, after ordering UN nuclear inspectors out [press release] of the country. In October 2008, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) [official website] head Mohamed ElBaradei [BBC profile] said he wants North Korea to return [JURIST report] to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [text, PDF; IAEA backgrounder] after a five-year absence. In 2007, North Korea agreed that it would end its nuclear weapons program [JURIST report] in exchange for aid as part of a multi-stage initiative by the Six Party Talks [CFR backgrounder].