Two American journalists detained in North Korea have spoken by telephone with their families in the United States on Tuesday, Voice of America reported Saturday.

Euna Lee, a Korean American, and Laura Ling, a Chinese American, both working for the Current TV in the U.S., were captured by North Korean soldiers on March 17 at the Chinese border while filming the North Korean side for a report on North Korean refugees. Charged with illegal entry and unspecified "hostile acts," they are to stand trial on June 4. The two women reportedly told their families they get through the day without much trouble.

VOA speculated permission for the phone calls, which came the day after the North's nuclear test last Monday, signals that the North wants to break through an impasse in relations with the U.S.

Earlier, the two journalists gave letters to their families to a Swedish Embassy official in Pyongyang who visited them on April 15, VOA said.

Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists, quoting the UN Swedish ambassador and the families of the two journalists, on Friday said they seem to be held separately at a guest house or hotel on the outskirts of Pyongyang. "Though they have not been subjected to physical torture, they think they are being detained because of a power struggle on the Korean Peninsula that has been waged for over 50 years," the CPJ said.