North Korea said on Friday it had detained a 24-year-old American this month who demanded asylum after arriving in the country on a tourist visa in "a gross violation of its legal order," according to the Associated Press.
The announcement was made while President Barack Obama was visiting South Korea, one of Washington's closest allies and still technically at war with Pyongyang, the AP reported.
KCNA said the detained man had a tourist visa for the DPRK, but tore it to pieces and shouted that he had come "to the DPRK after choosing it as a shelter," according to the AP.
The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports that a U.S. citizen had been detained in North Korea and it was in touch with the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang on the issue, the AP reported.
"We don't have additional information to share at this time," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a regular news briefing, according to the AP. The United States has no diplomatic relations with North Korea and the interests of its citizens in the country are represented by Sweden.
While KCNA identified the man as Miller Matthew Todd, it appeared that it had used the Korean convention of putting the last name first, followed by the first and middle names, the AP reported.
Kenneth Bae, a Korean American missionary, has been held in North Korea for more than a year and was arrested as he led a tour group in the country in 2012 and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor on charges of state subversion, according to the AP.
North Korea has twice canceled visits by Robert King, the U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues, to discuss Bae's case, the AP reported. Bae has acknowledged conducting religious services in North Korea, one of the world's most isolated states and long hostile to Westerners advocating religious causes.
Psaki said Swedish diplomats had visited Bae on April 18 and the United States remained "deeply concerned" about his health,according to the AP. Bae's family says he suffers from a variety of health issues, including diabetes, an enlarged heart, kidney stones and severe back pain.
