New York, Apr 24 : North Korea today said that it has decided to indict two US journalists who have been detained for more than five weeks on charges of illegally entering the country and committing "hostile acts."

"Our related agency has completed its investigation of the American journalists. It has formally decided to put them on trial based on confirmed criminal data," North Korea's state-run news agency, KCNA, reported.

The reporters, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, work for Current TV, a San Francisco-based media company founded by Al Gore, the former vice president, The New York Times reported.

They were arrested by the North Korean military on March 17 on the border between China and North Korea. They had been in China reporting on the North Korean refugees who fled hunger at home and were living in hiding in China.

The news agency did not say specifically what charges the journalists would face. But North Korea officials said on March 31 that the reporters would be indicted on charges of "illegal entry" and perpetrating "hostile acts" against the Communist state.

Their indictment comes amid high tension between North Korea and the United States after the North launched a long-range rocket on April 5.

The United States pressed the United Nations Security Council to call for tightened sanctions on the North. (ANI)