WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) - The Latest on the deportation of an American man from North Korea (all times local):
3 p.m.
A U.S. official says an American citizen detained last month by North Korea has been deported and is on a flight back to the United States.
The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. He declined to provide any additional details.
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency has named the American citizen as Bruce Byron Lowrance. KCNA said Friday that the man was detained on Oct. 16 for illegally entering the country from China and that he would be deported.
In the past, North Korea has held arrested American citizens for an extended period before high-profile U.S. figures travelled to Pyongyang to secure their freedom.
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Matthew Lee in Washington, D.C., contributed to this item.
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5 a.m.
North Korea says it will deport an American citizen it detained for illegal entrance, an apparent concession to the United States.
That came even as the North announced the test of a newly developed but unspecified “ultramodern” weapon that will be seen as a pressuring tactic by Washington.
The two whiplash announcements, which seemed aimed at both appeasing and annoying Washington, suggest North Korea wants to keep alive dialogue with the United States even as it struggles to express its frustration at stalled nuclear diplomacy.
North Korea in the past has held arrested American citizens for an extended period before high-profile U.S. figures travelled to Pyongyang to secure their freedom.
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