U.S. broadcaster CBS says Washington has contacted North Korea to negotiate the release of two detained American journalists and is now waiting for a reply.

CBS quoted the Associated Press as saying Monday that an official of the Barack Obama administration held contacts with a North Korean official in regards to the detained journalists.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood refused to comment on South Korean reports that Washington Saturday requested high-level talks with Pyongyang for the release of the two Americans.

On Saturday, the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency confirmed that the North Korean military detained Laura Ling and Euna Lee. Both are reporters for former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's San Francisco-based media outlet Current TV.

The two journalists were caught Tuesday near the North’s border with China and are currently under investigation.