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Joo Won-moon, 21, from New York, was caught on April 22
crossing from the Chinese side of the Yalu River, according to
North Korea's KCNA news agency. Joo admitted violating North
Korean law, state media said.
South Korea's KCNA news agency reported that Joo was student at
New York University (NYU).
The arrest comes after North Korea said in late March that it
had detained two South Koreans, accusing them of spying after
they crossed over from the Chinese border city of Dandong.
Dandong is home to many ethnic Korean Chinese traders who deal
with both North and South Korean businessmen. It is also home to
South Korean and western Christian missionaries trying to
operate in North Korea.
A number of US missionaries have been arrested in the past, with
some allowed to return home after interventions by high-profile
US figures.
But, despite pleas from Seoul to release, North Korea has been
holding South Koreans including a South Korean missionary who
was sentenced to life with hard labor last year for espionage
and setting up an underground church.
The two Koreas remain technically at war, as their 1950-53 civil
conflict ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.
(Reporting By Ju-min Park; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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