It looks like the North Koreans have found yet a new way to heighten tensions with the United States:

The United States says it is trying to confirm reports that North Korea has detained two U.S. reporters near its border with China.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters Friday that Washington is trying to ascertain all the facts, adding that he doesn’t have any real definitive information other than what has been reported by the media.

Wood said Washington is going to talk to the North through the Swedish Embassy, which represents Washington’s interests in the hard-line communist state. However, he could not confirm whether U.S. officials had already attempted such a contact with the Swedish Embassy.

The two female journalists that are being detained work for Current TV, which is an online television network that was established by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

Current TV confirmed in a statement Friday the identities of their two reporters and that they are, indeed, being detained. The two were identified as Euna Lee, an ethnic Korean, and Laura Ling, an ethnic Chinese.  [KBS Global]

There have been multiple reports that the North Koreans actually crossed the river border with China and kidnapped the two journalists:

Chun Ki-won, a Christian clergyman in Seoul who helped arrange the journalists’ trip, told reporters they went to the area to report on North Korean refugees in north-eastern China.

There is still some confusion as to exactly where the reporters were arrested.

South Korean television station YTN and unnamed diplomatic sources said that North Korean guards crossed the Tumen river into Chinese territory to arrest the journalists.

Munhwa Ilbo newspaper reported the arrest of just one US journalist, and said the incident took place along another border river, the Yalu. The two areas are hundreds of miles apart.  [BBC]

If this incident is confirmed the North Koreans will assuredly claim the journalists crossed into North Korea and in turn will demand an apology from the US government for their return plus it gives them a bargaining chip in regards to their suspected missile test.

It will be interesting to see how the Obama administration reacts to this latest provacation.