WASHINGTON - NORTH Korea has assured the United States that two detained American women journalists will be treated well, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said on Tuesday.

But Mr Wood backtracked from earlier remarks that he was 'aware' that the pair faced espionage charges, saying only that North Korea has informed the United States that it believes the two entered the country illegally.

'The North has assured us that the detainees will be well treated,' Mr Wood told reporters at the daily news media briefing.

He declined to say whether US officials received the assurance directly from the North Koreans, which have a mission at the United Nations in New York, or through Sweden, which represents US interests in Pyongyang.

He said US officials are pressing for the Swedes to visit the two who have been identified as Euna Lee, a Korean-American, and Laura Ling, a Chinese-American, who work for Current TV in California.

'We have formally requested, through our protecting power in Pyongyang, the Swedish embassy, that the Swedish government be provided with consular access to these two Americans,' Mr Wood added without saying when the request was made.

In Seoul, a South Korean daily said on Tuesday that North Korean intelligence officials are questioning the journalists and will likely try to persuade them to confess to spying.

JoongAng Ilbo, quoting a South Korean intelligence source, said the pair were transported to a top-security guest-house on the outskirts of Pyongyang a day after they were seized before dawn on March 17 along the border with China.

State Department officials said they do not know where the pair are being detained.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service declined to comment, and an analyst said he doubted whether the pair would be charged with spying. -- AFP