Seoul - North Korea wants to put two detained US journalists on trial for charges of illegal entry and suspected "hostile acts," state-run media said Tuesday.

   The two women, Korean-American Euna Lee and Chinese-American Laura Ling, were arrested two weeks ago by guards at the Chinese-North Korean border where they were working on a story for US news channel Current TV.

North Korean authorities were already working on an indictment on "the basis of the already confirmed suspicions," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. A date for the trial has not been set.

The US State Department said it was working its diplomatic channels through the Swedish embassy, which has been granted consular access to the two journalists. The US and North Korea have no formal diplomatic relations.

"We are continuing our diplomatic efforts," spokesman Gordon Duguid said. "Of course we would like to see our citizens released and returned home."

Regional tensions have been increasing in the past weeks over a planned satellite launch by North Korea. The Stalinist state announced it was to launch a satellite between April 4 and 8.

   Washington and Seoul believe the launch to be a smokescreen for a test of a North Korean long-range missile. Duguid said he did not consider the journalists' arrests and launch to be related.

   Lee and Ling were collecting information on North Koreans fleeing their country and were visiting a spot on the border where many refugees flee to China.

"The illegal entry of US reporters into the DPRK (North Korea) and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements," KCNA said.

Meanwhile, the status of a South Korean man who was detained on Monday at the jointly operated Kaesong industrial park on charges of criticizing the North Korean political system remained unclear.

   The Defence Ministry in Seoul said Pyongyang has so far ignored requests to grant him access to a lawyer.

   But a ministry spokeswoman denied speculation over a possible connection between the man's arrest and the detention of the two journalists.