Pyongyang tries 2 US journalists amid calls for clemency

SEOUL: The DPRK's top court began hearing the case yesterday of two American journalists accused of crossing into the country illegally and engaging in "hostile acts" - charges that could draw a 10-year sentence in a labor camp.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for former US vice-president Al Gore's California-based Current TV, were arrested on March 17 near the DPRK border while on a reporting trip to China.

The DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency said in a brief dispatch earlier yesterday that the trial would begin at 3 pm (2 pm Beijing time) in Pyongyang's Central Court. Hours later, there was no word on the status of the proceedings.