SEOUL, Dec 13 (Reuters) - A U.S. tourist has been detained
by North Korean police, South Korea's Yonhap news agency
reported on Thursday.
Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American, was in a group of five
tourists who visited Rajin, a city in the north east of the
reclusive state, Yonhap said, citing a report by the newspaper
Kookmin Ilbo.
Bae, 44, entered North Korea on Nov. 3 for a five-day trip,
South Korean media reported. CNN said Bae was part of a
Protestant religious group in the United States.
U.S. citizens of Korean descent have previously run into
trouble in the North. Robert Park, a missionary, was detained
and he says tortured in the North for protesting over the
country's human rights record.
In 2009 former U.S. President Bill Clinton flew to Pyongyang
to secure the release of two American journalists who had
entered North Korea illegally.
The United States does not have diplomatic relations with
North Korea and its interests are looked after by the Swedish
embassy in Pyongyang.
The North on Wednesday sparked calls for sanctions from
Washington and others when it fired a long-range rocket that put
a satellite into space.
Critics say the North is breaching United Nations Security
Council resolutions which prohibit it from activities linked to
nuclear development or missile technology.
(Reporting by David Chance)