Two American journalists and their guide were detained by North Korean soldiers while on a reporting trip near the country's border with China, a missionary who spoke to them earlier in the week said Thursday, confirming media reports about their detention.

The three are being held in North Korea after being arrested Tuesday along the border, the Rev. Chun Ki-won of the Seoul-based Doorihana Mission told the Associated Press by telephone from Washington.

Chun said he was informed that the Americans were identified as Laura Ling and Euna Kim, reporters for the California-based online media outlet Current TV, and said a guide hired in China to assist them also was detained. He refused to reveal his sources.

He said he met with the two in Seoul recently to help them plan their trip to the border to report on North Korean refugees, and last spoke to them by telephone early Tuesday morning.

The women told him they were near North Korea's far northeastern border, at the Tumen River, and were heading northwest toward the Yalu River near the Chinese border city of Dandong.

The Tumen and Yalu rivers are frequent crossing points for both trade and the growing number of North Koreans seeking to escape through the porous border. Chun's group helps North Korean defectors hiding in China and in Southeast Asian countries seek asylum in the U.S. and South Korea.

Earlier Thursday, South Korean media reported that North Korean soldiers took two U.S. journalists into custody after they ignored orders to stop filming.

In Seoul, U.S. Embassy spokesman Aaron Tarver said he had no information about the reported arrests and referred calls to the State Department. U.S. officials in Washington could not be reached for comment.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said China was looking into the reports.

"China is investigating the issue involving relevant U.S. nationals on the border between China and the DPRK [North Korea]," he said at a press briefing.

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said he had no comment.