The U.S. government is seeking the release of two American journalists detained by North Korea through diplomacy.

A senior White House official said the U.S. has been dealing with the issue through a diplomatic channel since the journalists were detained by North Korea at the North's border with China on March 17th.

His remarks come after the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said that the communist country is preparing to put the journalists on trial for illegally entering the North and for what Pyongyang claims were “hostile acts.”

The official said that nothing is more important to the U.S. government than the safety of its citizens.