North Korea repatriates South Korean citizen

The citizen is under investigation by South Korean authorities as to why and how he entered the North.

SEOUL: North Korea repatriated a South Korean citizen on Tuesday through the border village of Panmunjom in a "positive humanitarian" move, Seoul's Unification Ministry said.

In a message to Seoul a day earlier, Pyongyang claimed the 34-year-old citizen had illegally entered the country on July 22, reports Yonhap News Agency.

On Monday, the North's Red Cross informed the South of a plan to send him back. Seoul accepted the offer.

The citizen is under investigation by South Korean authorities as to why and how he entered the North. He left for China on July 22, an informed source said.

Six South Korean nationals, including three missionaries, remain detained in the communist nation.