North Korea confirmed Saturday that it had detained two American journalists on charges of “illegally intruding” into the North through its border with China.

The journalists, Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, and Euna Lee, a Korean-American, both working for Current TV, were on a reporting trip along the border when they were detained by North Korean border guards, according to human rights activists and a South Korean news report. Their colleague, Mitch Koss, and their Chinese guide were reported to have been detained by Chinese border guards.

“A competent organ is now investigating the case,” the North’s official news agency, KCNA, said.

The terse dispatch, which gave no details, was the first confirmation by North Korea of the arrests. On Friday, Washington said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was trying to free the two journalists, who had traveled to the border area to report on North Korean refugees in China, according to Chun Ki-won, a Christian clergyman in Seoul who helped arrange their trip.

Their arrest complicates Washington’s already thorny relations with the North, including an increase in tensions over North Korea’s plan to launch a satellite between April 4 and April 8. American officials say they believe that the rocket launching is a cover for testing ballistic missile technology.

Also Saturday, the North told international aviation authorities that it would close two international air routes through its airspace from April 4 to April 8 for the satellite launching, according to the Japanese and South Korean governments.

Source: International Herald Tribune

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