China is holding a group of South Korean television journalists, working and traveling in this country near the border with North Korea, on charges of spying, according to press reports and government websites.

South Korean media say the TV crew was detained on the Tumen River in China, which makes up part of China's heavily guarded border with North Korea. The Tumen is notorious as a place where North Korean refugees slip into China. Two years ago, two American journalists snuck across that river at night into North Korea, and were caught and detained for several months until former President Bill Clinton intervened to secure their release.

The Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo says the four journalists and a government researcher, who were traveling in China on tourist visas because they were unable to secure journalist permits, were detained last Thursday on espionage charges, along with a local guide. The Tumen river border area is heavily patrolled by Chinese military but often not clearly marked as a military zone.