N.K. to try U.S. journalists June 4

North Korea yesterday said the two U.S. journalists it has been holding for illegal entry will stand trial on June 4, sparking some anticipation of possible dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington.

"The Central Court of the Democratic People`s Republic of Korea decided to try (the) American journalists on June 4 according to the indictment of the competent organ," the Korean Central News Agency, the communist nation`s state media, said in a one-sentence report.



Laura Ling and Euna Lee, reporters for Current TV, a media venture formed by former Vice President Al Gore, were detained on March 17 while reporting on North Korean refugees living across the border in China.

Pyongyang has said the pair was accused of not just illegal entry, but of other unspecified "hostile" acts that could lead to a maximum 10 years in prison.

North Korea at the time made it clear it would play hardball with Washington, sticking by the charges against the two.

Speculation is now mounting that Pyongyang may try to initiate dialogue with the United States through the trial, using the journalists as a bargaining chip to urge Washington to reverse what the communist nation calls "hostile" policies towards it.

The North may in that way follow in the footsteps of Iran, which recently released the American journalist Roxana Saberi. The Iran court had originally handed down an eight-year sentence for espionage activities, but it was reduced to a two-year suspended term.

She was released on Monday after four months in jail. Saberi`s release is seen to have led to a thaw in relations between Iran and the United States.

"We notice a lot of similarities between the two cases, and the North, to save face, will be looking for a chance to talk to the United States without appearing needy, so this may be the chance they will seize," said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, here.

U.S. President Barack Obama has recently signaled that Washington is open to bilateral talks with the North to help end the nuclear stalemate.

The six-nation talks for ending North Korea`s nuclear weapons programs have been on hold since December, and Pyongyang said it would boycott the talks altogether after the United Nations Security Council denounced its April 5 rocket launch.

But government sources said the trial may not lead to an eventual one-on-one, since North Korea has several times rebuked Washington`s offer for talks.

"It may have other objectives on its mind, bigger and broader ones for reaping maximum favors from Washington and the rest of the world, so the journalist situation may not yield breakthrough talks," said one official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

There is currently a South Korean worker detained in the North as well. The Hyundai Asan employee has been held in Gaeseong for more than a month for allegedly chiding the North Korean regime and suggesting defection to a North Korean worker at Gaeseong Industrial Complex, the sole standing inter-Korean venture.

By Kim Ji-hyun



(jemmie@heraldm.com)