American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee are slated to appear in a North Korean court tomorrow to answer to charges that they illegally crossed the Chinese-Korean border while filming a news segment for Current TV. With the North’s recent spate of nuclear tests and aggressive anti-American rhetoric, families of the two detained journalists fear they might be used as pawns in Pyongyang’s increasingly dangerous diplomatic game.

Lee and Ling were arrested by North Korean officials on March 17 during the lead-up to the North’s much-condemned April 5 nuclear test. The two were on assignment from Current TV, former Vice President Al Gore’s television news outlet, covering female refugees crossing the Chinese border. Although the events surrounding their arrests are not entirely clear, the reporters had not planned to enter into North Korea illegally and were expected to return stateside two days after leaving for China. Pyongyang tells a different story. Lee and Ling have been accused of crossing into North Korean territory and “hostile acts” against the government punishable by up to 10 years in a prison workcamp.

Analysts say the trial–which is being held in North Korea’s highest court–may be a ploy to improve its bargaining position in the lead up to a White House summit between South Korea and U.S. scheduled for June 16. It may also open up opportunities for direct diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang, a relationship that many experts believe North Korea is banking on to improve conditions in the impoverished North. According to Paik Hak-soon (via The Huffington Post), bargaining for the journalists’ release gives American officials a reason to visit Pyongyang without facing criticism domestically and from allies in Tokyo and Seoul.

Behind the larger diplomatic story are the deeply personal stories of the lives the two women have been forced to leave behind. Although the families of the two reporters have generally remained silent since the arrest to allow diplomacy to run its course, they have come out in the past week asking the American government to open a dialogue with Pyongyang. In a primetime interview with ABC’s Nightline earlier this week, prominent American journalist Lisa Ling–the sister of Laura Ling–said she has only spoken with her sister once since March and that the two prisoners are being treated humanely. Ling says she spends a lot of time with Euna Lee’s husband and 4-year-old daughter as they wait out the ordeal. Though anxious about the trial, both families are hopeful that the North will give the two women a fair trial:

They’ve been there for almost three months, and they have been citing this June 4 trial date, so what we are hoping and praying is that they get a fair trial and when they conclude the trial they will show mercy and let the girls come home to their families.

In observance of the trial, the Asian American Journalism Association has organized vigils nationwide this evening in solidarity with Lee and Ling. Lisa Ling has also been active in posting updates about her sister via Facebook.

photo credit: yeowatzup’s Flickr photostream (creative commons)