Another U.S. citizen has been detained in North Korea, according to a report Sunday.
North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency said Kim Hak Song, who worked for Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, was detained Saturday “on suspension of his hostile acts against it,” Reuters reported.
This is the fourth American citizen currently in North Korean detention, and the second taken in under a month.
In April, Kim Sang-duk, who also goes by his American name, Tony Kim was detained in North Korea when he attempted to leave the country for “hostile criminal acts with an aim to subvert the country,” KCNA said, according to the New York Times.
Kim Hak Song, a Korean-American who had spent a month teaching an accounting course at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, was arrested at Pyongyang International Airport, the university’s chancellor, Chan-Mo Park, told the Associated Press.
While it wasn’t immediately clear why Kim was detained, a statement from the university said the arrest was “related to an investigation into matters that are not connected in any way to PUST,” Reuters reported.
The U.S. has no formal diplomatic ties to North Korea.
Two other Americans are currently detained by North Korea: Otto Warmbier, a University of Virginia student; and Kim Dong-chul, a former resident of Virginia.
Warmbier was detained last year for allegedly trying to steal a propaganda sign from a Pyongyang hotel, was convicted in March of subversion and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. Kim Dong-chul was charged with spying in April of last year and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Previous American detainees held by the reclusive North Korean regime were released soon after following visits from high-profile Americans, like former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, the Washington Post notes.
President Trump said this week said he’d be “honored” to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un under the “right circumstances.”
