No word on American journalists' trial

By AP

SEOUL, South Korea – SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - There's been no word on whether a trial for two American journalists held in North Korea has actually begun.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee face accusations of illegal entry and "hostile acts" in a case that could send them to a labor camp for 10 years.

Ling and Lee are reporters for former Vice President Al Gore's California-based Current TV media venture. They were arrested March 17 near the North Korean border while on a reporting trip to China.

North Korea's official news agency said in a brief dispatch that the trial would begin at 3 p.m. (2 a.m. EDT) in the Central Court.

Back home, the reporters' families pleaded for clemency. Laura Ling's sister, TV journalist Lisa Ling, expressed hope during a vigil in California that the North Korean government will show leniency.