The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) started a trial of American journalists Laura Ling and Seung-eun Lee at 3 p.m. (0600 GMT) Thursday on the basis of the indictment already brought against them, the official KCNA said.
The journalists, Seung-eun Lee, a Korean-American, and Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, were detained before dawn on March 17 along the row Tumen River, which marks the border with China, Xinhua reported.
The DPRK accused the pair, who work for Current TV in California, of illegally intruding into its territory with "hostile intent."
The two journalists had been visited by Sweden's ambassador to the DPRK, on behalf of Washington, which has no diplomatic ties with Pyongyang.