An American citizen who has been arrested in North Korea had been lecturing at a university in Pyongyang, officials have confirmed.
(READ EARLIER REPORT ON THIS LAST WEEK)
(READ EARLIER REPORT ON THIS LAST WEEK)
Tony Kim, also known as Kim Sang-duk, was detained as he attempted to travel from Pyongyang Airport to China with his wife on Saturday.
The 58-year-old had taught accounting at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) for around a month before his arrest.
The university's chancellor, Park Chan-mo, said he was informed the detention had "nothing to do" with Mr Kim's work at PUST but did not know further details.
North Korean authorities have not yet confirmed why Mr Kim was arrested and the US State Department has declined to comment "due to privacy considerations".
According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, Mr Kim had also been involved in an aid programme for children in rural parts of North Korea.
It cited a source familiar with the matter who described Kim as a "religiously devoted man".
Tony Kim is the third American to be held in North Korea.
Last year, Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old university student, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour in prison after he confessed to trying to steal a propaganda banner.
Meanwhile, South Korea-born Kim Dong-Chul is serving a 10-year sentence for espionage.
The arrest comes amid heightened tensions between North Korea and the US, which has sent a carrier strike group towards the Korean Peninsula.
Chinese state media says that President Xi Jinping called for restraint over the situation during a phone call with Donald Trump on Monday morning.
"If all sides bear the responsibilities they're supposed to bear and come together, the nuclear issue on the peninsula can be resolved as quickly as possible," Mr Xi reportedly told the US president.
Pyongyang has warned it will respond to any US aggression and threatened a nuclear strike on Australia after urging the country to think twice before "blindly and zealously toeing the US line".
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