DHAKA: North Korea announced Friday that it has detained a U.S. citizen who it says entered the secretive country as a tourist in April and broke the law.

The news brings the number of Americans believed to be held in the communist nation to three.

The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported that authorities are investigating a man who it said violated the law by acting "contrary to the purpose of tourism."

In a brief English-language article, KCNA gave the American's name as Jeffrey Edward Fowle, saying he arrived as a tourist on April 29. It didn't give any other details.

The U.S. State Department said it was "aware of reports that a third U.S. citizen was detained in North Korea." But it declined to provide any further information, saying it couldn't share details about specific cases without written consent from an individual.

Source: CNN

BDST: 1633 HRS, JUN 06, 2014