North Korea 'detains fourth US citizen'
May 7, 2017
Kim Hak Song, who worked at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), was taken into custody on Saturday, North Korea's official KCNA news agency reported.
"A relevant institution is now conducting detailed investigation into his crimes," it added.
Kim is the second American to be arrested in a fortnight. US citizen Kim Sang Dok, who is associated with the same university, was detained in late April for trying to "overturn" the regime, according to North Korean media.
The PUST was founded by evangelical Christians in 2010 and generally schools children of the country's elite.
Read more: US 'not trying to pick a fight' with North Korea
At least two other Americans are being held by North Korean authorities. Otton Warmbier, a 22-year-old student from Cincinnati, was sentenced in 2016 to 15 years of hard labor after he confessed to trying to steal a propaganda banner. Kim Dong Chul, a 62-year-old Korean-American missionary, is serving a 10-year sentence for espionage. Neither has appeared in public since their sentencing.
Tensions between the US and North Korea have escalated over Pyongyang's ongoing nuclear and missile tests. The country has accelerated its programs under leader Kim Jong Un, carrying out two nuclear tests and some 20 ballistic missile tests in 2016.
nm/tj (AFP, Reuters)