A trial will be held Thursday in North Korea for two U.S. journalists who were detained in March.

Earlier on May 14th, the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said the North’s Central Court will try the journalists on June fourth based on charges allegedly confirmed by a North Korean agency.

A spokesman at the South Korean Unification Ministry said the North is likely to come to a final decision regarding the two Americans in a single trial.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, of San Francisco-based Current TV, were taken into custody by the North along its border with China on March 17th while they were shooting a documentary. Pyongyang says the two will be tried for unspecified “hostile acts.”

In Washington, the U.S. State Department has again called on Pyongyang to release the two women immediately.

Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley told reporters that there is no higher U.S. priority than protecting American civilians abroad. He reiterated that Washington hopes the North will forego this legal process and return the journalists to the United States.