N. Korea silent on trial of 2 journalists

PYONGYANG, North Korea, June 5 (UPI) -- North Korean officials were mum Friday about the fate of two U.S. journalists tried in the country's top court on espionage charges.

The country's state-run news agency hasn't released verdicts against Current TV journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who were detained March 17 near the North Korea-Chinese border while working on a story about North Korean defectors, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

North Korean officials said the reporters entered the country illegally, accused them of hostile acts and charged them with spying.

It was not known whether their trial, which began Thursday, was completed, Yonhap said.

Lee and Ling could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in a labor camp for hostile activities or espionage. A ruling by the top court would be final and cannot be appealed, Seoul officials said.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said no observers were allowed at the trial. Mats Foyer, Sweden's ambassador in Pyongyang who handles consular affairs involving U.S. citizens in North Korea, was denied access to the trial, the State Department spokesman said. Sweden represents the United States in North Korea because the two countries have no diplomatic relations.