North Korea grants access to detained US citizen

Mar 16, 2010, 4:44 GMT

Seoul - North Korea has allowed Swedish diplomats to visit a US citizen who has been detained for two months in the communist country, the US State Department said in Washington Monday.

It was the first time the reclusive communist state has granted consular access to the man, who reportedly illegally entered North Korea from China.

'We can confirm that on March 14, the DPRK granted the Swedish embassy, our protecting power, consular access to a detained US citizen,' said State Department spokesman PJ Crowley.

DPRK, or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is the official name of North Korea.

Washington relies on the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang as its contact point, due to a lack of formal diplomatic ties between the United States and North Korea.

'We are not at liberty to disclose his identity,' Crowley said.

North Korea said it detained the American on January 25, after he crossed into its territory. He was accused of trespassing and interrogated, the Korean Central News Agency, the North's official mouthpiece, said.

No further information has been provided about the case.

The incident occurred a month after the country's officials detained another US citizen, 28-year-old Robert Park, who walked into the country on Christmas Day. The Korean-American missionary had carried a letter addressed to Kim Jong Il, demanding the freedom of political prisoners and the closure of prison camps.

After his release from North Korea, Park returned to the United States on February 6. He has kept silent about his experience, although news reports emerged early in March that he was being held at a psychiatric hospital in California against his will.