North Korea Confirms Holding American

BBC News reports:

North Korea has confirmed that it has arrested a US citizen and is preparing to charge him with "committing a crime" against the country.

Jun Young-su was arrested in November last year, the official KCNA news agency said.

The US state department announced the arrest on Tuesday and is calling for the detainee's release on humanitarian grounds.

The US has not named him, but said that Swedish diplomats had visited him.

The Swedish embassy in Pyongyang looks after American interests, as there are no diplomatic relations between North Korea and the US.

Ex-presidents' visits

North Korea did not specify the crimes of which the man had been accused.

But South Korean media reports suggested he was a Korean-American businessman who could have been involved in Christian missionary work.

North Korea sees organised religious activity as a potential challenge to the leadership.

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