North Korea to put U.S. journalists on trial

By Jon Herskovitz

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea said Thursday it would put two U.S. journalists it arrested in March on trial on June 4 and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she hoped for a quick resolution to the case.

Analysts have said the reclusive North sees the reporters as bargaining chips to try to win concessions out of the government of U.S. President Barack Obama, which is pressing Pyongyang to return to stalled nuclear disarmament talks.

Euna Lee and Laura Ling, of U.S. media outlet Current TV, were arrested along the North Korea-China border. They were accused of illegally entering North Korea with "hostile" intent and Pyongyang has said they face criminal charges.

"The Central Court of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) decided to try the American journalists on June 4 according to the indictment of the competent organ," the official KCNA news agency said in a one-sentence dispatch.

Speaking in Washington, Clinton told reporters she welcomed the quick trial date, saying "the fact that they are now going to have some process we believe is a signal that there can be, and I hope will be, a resolution as soon as possible."

She also repeated her view that the charges against the two are baseless and that they should be released .

North Korea has pulled out of talks with five regional powers aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions and said it is useless to talk to the Obama government, which it accuses of continuing a hostile policy to topple Pyongyang's leaders.

Analysts said the destitute North faces a sharp rebuke from the United States if it keeps the pair in detention but it may be willing to risk further isolation if it feels it can gain bargaining leverage.