Report: NKorea Suspects US Journalists Were Spying

North Korean female soldiers wave as they patrol along the waterfront of North Korea's Yalu River,...

North Korean female soldiers wave as they patrol along the waterfront of North Korea's Yalu River, opposite side of the Chinese border town of Hekou, northeast of Dandong, China, Monday, March 23, 2009. Two American journalists detained by North Korean soldiers after they "illegally intruding" in its territory after crossing the border from China, and are believed to have been sent to Pyongyang for questioning, a news report said Sunday. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

(AP)

Two American journalists seized by North Korean border guards are facing "intense interrogation" in Pyongyang for alleged espionage after illegally crossing into the country from China, a report said Tuesday.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, journalists working for former Vice President Al Gore's San Francisco-based Current TV, were at a guesthouse in Pyongyang's outskirts run by North Korean military intelligence, the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said, citing an unidentified South Korean intelligence official.

The report provided first word of the women's whereabouts since they disappeared March 17 during a trip to the border near North Korea's far northwest. A colleague detained on the Chinese side left China on Tuesday.

South Korea's main spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, and the Unification Ministry said they could not confirm the details, reportedly obtained using "human intelligence" — sources on the ground.

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In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood called the matter "extremely sensitive" and said North Korea has assured U.S. officials the journalists will be treated well. He said the U.S., which has no official diplomatic presence in North Korea, has asked Swedish diplomats there to request access to the women.

If convicted of espionage, the women face at least five years in prison under North Korean law, South Korea's Unification Ministry said.

Their detention comes during heightened tensions as North Korea prepares to fire a communications satellite into space next month, which some regional powers believe will be a test of its long-range missile technology.

The U.S., Japan and South Korea have urged the North not to launch, calling it a violation of a U.N. Security Council ban prohibiting Pyongyang from ballistic activity, including satellites and missiles. They have warned the move could invite sanctions.

North Korea lashed out at Washington and its allies Tuesday and derided concerns that satellites and long-range missiles use the same rocket technology for liftoff, saying it was like comparing "kitchen knives and bayonets."