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Reuters

North Korea said on Sunday it has detained another American citizen for suspicion of acts against the state, which if confirmed would make him the fourth US citizen to be held by the isolated country amid diplomatic tensions.
Kim Hak-song, who was detained on May 6, worked for the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, the North’s KCNA news agency said.


“A relevant institution of the DPRK detained American citizen Kim Hak-song on May 6 under a law of the DPRK on suspension of his hostile acts against it,” KCNA said. DPRk is short for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s official name.
A third US citizen, Kim Sang-dok, who was associated with the same school, was detained in late April for hostile acts, according to the North’s official media.

The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) was founded by evangelical Christians and opened in 2010. Its students are generally children of the country’s elite.
North Korea sentences US student to 15 years hard labour for stealing propaganda sign
The volunteer faculty of PUST, many of whom are evangelical Christians, has a curriculum that includes subjects once considered taboo in North Korea, such as capitalism. The college is an unlikely fit in a country that has been condemned by the US State Department for cracking down on freedom of religion.
No further details were available about the circumstances related to the arrests of the two men associated with the college. A spokesman for the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology was not immediately available for comment.

The reported detention comes as tensions on the Korean peninsula run high, driven by harsh rhetoric from Pyongyang and Washington over the North’s pursuit of nuclear weapons in response to what it says is a threat of US-instigated war.
North Korea has in the past used detained Americans to extract high-profile visits from the United States, with which it has no formal diplomatic relations.
US tourist becomes pawn in the diplomatic game between Washington and Pyongyang
The other two Americans already held in North Korea are Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old student and Kim Dong-chul, a 62-year-old Korean-American missionary.
Warmbier was detained in January 2016 and sentenced to 15 years hard labour for attempting to steal a propaganda banner. Two months later, Kim Dong-chul was sentenced to 10 years hard labour for subversion. Neither has appeared in public since their sentencing.


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North Korea

North Korea detains fourth US citizen over ‘hostile acts’

North Korea has in the past used detained Americans to extract high-profile visits from the United States, with which it has no formal diplomatic relations. Photo: Reuters

(FILES) This file photo taken on February 29, 2016 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 1, 2016 shows US student Otto Frederick Warmbier (R), who was arrested for committing hostile acts against North Korea, speaking at a press conference in Pyongyang. North Korea has detained another US citizen for committing "hostile acts", it said on May 7, 2017, its second arrest of an American in a fortnight with tensions high between Pyongyang and Washington. Two more US citizens -- college student Otto Warmbier and Korean-American pastor Kim Dong-Chul -- are currently being held in the North after being sentenced to long prison terms. / AFP PHOTO / KCNA VIA KNS / STR / South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT ---EDITORS NOTE--- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VE

(FILES) This file picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 25, 2016 shows Kim Dong-Chul, a Korean-American as he addresses a news conference in Pyongyang. North Korea has detained another US citizen for committing "hostile acts", it said on May 7, 2017, its second arrest of an American in a fortnight with tensions high between Pyongyang and Washington. Two more US citizens -- college student Otto Warmbier and Korean-American pastor Kim Dong-Chul -- are currently being held in the North after being sentenced to long prison terms. / AFP PHOTO / KCNA VIA KNS / STR / South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT ---EDITORS NOTE--- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PHOTO IS DISTRIBUTED EXACT

US professor Tony Kim detained in North Korea for trying to ‘overturn’ regime

Kim had been teaching accounting at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. Photo: Facebook

Kim had been teaching accounting at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology Photo: CNN

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