US Demands N Korea Release American

BBC News reports:

The US state department says an American citizen is being held in North Korea, and is calling for the person's release on humanitarian grounds.

No details have been given about the American's identity or the circumstances of the arrest.

The news comes ahead of a scheduled visit to Seoul this weekend by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Efforts to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula are continuing, after two military attacks last year.

The state department is refusing to answer questions about the detained citizen - such as who are they? What were they doing in North Korea? When, where and why were they arrested? - because it says the individual has not signed a privacy waiver.

The US and North Korea fought on opposite sides of the Korean War. Washington and Pyongyang still do not have diplomatic relations, so officials from the Swedish embassy are acting on America's behalf in this case and have visited the person being detained.

The state department has called for the person's human rights to be respected.

There is a long history of American citizens being held after trespassing in North Korea.

Since 2009, it has taken visits to Pyongyang by two former US presidents to secure the release of Americans in detention there.

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