North Korea arrests US citizen

Yonhap News Agency (South Korea) on April 23 quoted sources saying that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea arrested a former Korean-American university lecturer last week. This is the third American citizen to be arrested in this country.

Passengers prepare to board an Antonov An-148-100B aircraft of North Korea's national airline Air Koryo at Pyongyang International Airport. Photo: Reuters

The American citizen, surnamed Kim, was arrested as he was about to board a plane at Pyongyang International Airport to leave North Korea, an unnamed source told Yonhap.

Mr. Kim, a former lecturer at Yanbian University of Science and Technology (China), about 50 years old, went to North Korea to participate in humanitarian aid programs for about a month.

It is still unclear why North Korea detained the former lecturer.

The incident comes amid escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula. However, South Korea's National Intelligence Service said it had no information about Mr. Kim's arrest in North Korea.

Two other Americans - college student Otto Warmbier and Korean-born pastor Kim Dong-chul - were also arrested and are serving prison sentences with hard labor. Pyongyang accuses them of anti-state activities.

According to TNO