North Korea said Friday it has arrested a detained a US tourist for violating the country's laws, state media reported. "American citizen Jeffrey Edward Fowle entered the DPRK as a tourist on April 29 and acted in violation of the DPRK law, contrary to the purpose of tourism during his stay," the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said in a brief dispatch from Pyongyang.
"A relevant organ of the DPRK detained him and is investigating the man." The DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name. The KCNA gave no other details.
Earlier in the day, citing diplomatic sources, Japan's Kyodo News Agency said the man, who was part of a tour group, was detained in mid-May just before he was about to leave the country, apparently for having left behind a Bible at the hotel where he had been staying. Fowle would be the third American currently held in North Korea.
On April 26, the KCNA reported that a man identified as "Miller Matthew Todd" was detained April 10 for "his rash behavior" when going through formalities for entry into the country. The report said that despite having a tourist visa to enter the country, he "tore it to pieces and shouted hoarse that 'he would seek asylum' and 'he came to the DPRK after choosing it as a shelter'".
The other US citizen known to be held in North Korea is Kenneth Bae, 44, who was arrested on Nov. 3, 2012 while leading a tourist group on a tour of Rason, a special economic zone on the northeastern tip of North Korea that borders China and Russia. In April 2013, the Korean-American was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for what North Korea says was an attempt to topple its regime. The US does not maintain diplomatic or consular relations with North Korea, but limited consular services to US citizens detained there are provided by the Swedish Embassy