In a two-line statement released late Sunday, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Japanese national Tomoyuki Sugimoto was freed on humanitarian grounds after he was detained for breaking an unspecified law while visiting the country.
A Japanese tourist who was detained in North Korea for allegedly breaking the law during a recent tour of the country has been freed, according to a statement by state-run media and a diplomatic source in Japan.
In a two-line statement released late Sunday, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Japanese national Tomoyuki Sugimoto was freed on humanitarian grounds after he was detained for breaking an unspecified law while visiting the country.
According to the diplomatic source quoted by Kyodo News on Monday, Sugimoto was released and was being deported to China, where he was met with Japanese officials for questioning and a health check.
Sugimoto is believed to be a 39-year-old videographer from Shiga Prefecture and was detained on suspicion of shooting video footage of a military facility when he visited the western port city of Nampo with a tour group, according to reports earlier this month. The port city is home to a major naval base, shipyard and missile factory.
Tokyo and Pyongyang do not have diplomatic relations and Japan often conducts its diplomacy with the North via its embassy in Beijing and its consul general in Shenyang, a Chinese city close to the border with North Korea.