U.S. denies espionage probe of American journalists detained in N. Korea

By Hwang Doo-hyong

WASHINGTON, March 24 (Yonhap) -- The United States Tuesday denied the report that two American journalists detained in North Korea are being investigated for alleged espionage.

"We are in touch with the DPRK through various channels, and the only statement
that the DPRK has made to us says only that the DPRK believes that the two
journalists crossed the DPRK border illegally," State Department spokesman Robert
Wood said in a statement. DPRK stands for Democratic People's Republic of Korea,
the official name of North Korea.
Wood was referring to the report that North Korea has been interrogating the
American journalists for alleged espionage.
"The U.S. is aware of South Korean press stories reporting on South Korean
sources claiming that the DPRK is investigating the two journalists for
espionage," he said.
In a daily news briefing earlier in the day, the spokesman would not go further
due to the sensitivity of the issue involving Pyongyang, with which Washington
does not have diplomatic ties, and Beijing, Pyongyang's staunchest communist
ally.
"I really don't want to go into much more detail, because we're trying to work
this issue diplomatically and the less said from here, the better," he said. "I
think it's just best right now, in terms of our interest in trying to, you know,
make sure that we can get these people released."
He also said that the U.S. has asked the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang to contact
two American journalists detained by North Korean soldiers on the Chinese border
last week.
"We have formally requested through our protecting power in Pyongyang, the
Swedish Embassy, that the Swedish government be provided with consular access to
these two Americans," he said. "The North has assured us that the detainees will
be well treated."
The Swedish embassy in Pyongyang handles consular affairs involving American
citizens as the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with the reclusive
communist state.
The reporters from Current TV, a San Francisco-based Internet outlet, were taken
by North Korean soldiers along the Tumen River on the Chinese border while
filming the North Korean side.
He said he was not sure how soon the U.S. can effect the release of the journalists.
"It's hard to say, in dealing with the North, whether we can be optimistic or
not," he said. "We're trying to work this diplomatically, because it's a very
sensitive issue."
The spokesman, meanwhile, urged the North to come back to the six-party talks on
ending its nuclear ambitions and to refrain from launching a rocket either for a
missile or satellite.
"We've said over and again that any missile launch by the North would be -- we
would view it as provocative, unhelpful," he said. "We want to see the North
focus on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, as it has dedicated itself to
doing. This type of rhetoric isn't helpful and in fact can be counterproductive."
The detention of the journalists came at a time when tensions have mounted on the
Korean Peninsula after North Korea's announcement to launch a rocket in early
April to orbit a satellite, which the U.S. sees as a cover for a ballistic
missile launch.
The detention is the third of its kind since 1994, when North Korea detained a
U.S. pilot whose military chopper was shot down after straying into North Korea.
Two years later, another American citizen, Evan Hunziker, were held for three
months on suspicion of spying after swimming in the Yalu River bordering North
Korea and China.
Then-U.S. congressman Bill Richardson flew to Pyongyang to successfully negotiate
their release. Richardson, a former U.N. ambassador, is now governor of New
Mexico.