North Korean officials said that an American tourist has been detained for committing an unstated crime.
The American is being investigated for allegedly committing acts conflicting with the purpose of a tourist visit, said the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
According to KCNA, the American arrived in North Korea on April 29. The brief statement didn't reveal much--it only said that he violated the country's laws.
No further details were provided.
This recent detainment means that there are now three Americans being held in the country. One has been identified as 24-year-old Matthew Miller, who allegedly entered the country last April with a tourist visa, but tore it up and said that he was not a tourist, and that he wanted asylum.
Andrea Lee, the chief executive of the tour company that took care of Miller's trip, said that he is "in good health."
The other detained tourist is Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae who was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for committing hostile acts against the state. He has been in the country for more than a year now.
According to a report by the BBC, North Korea uses detained Americans as "diplomatic bargaining chips."
Washington was aware that there's a third American being detained, said reports. "There is no greater priority for us than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad," said a State Department official.
The US State Department has issued a tourist advisory in May, saying that there is a "risk of arbitrary arrest and detention," and that they may be detained or expelled for activities that wouldn't be considered criminal outside North Korea.
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