North Korea reportedly arrests South Korean NYU student

North Korean border

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency reported on Saturday that authorities had arrested South Korean Joo Won-moon, 21, and charged him with illegally entering the country, according to The New York Times.

Joo has reportedly resided in New Jersey and holds a permanent resident status in the United States; the news agency said he is a student at New York University. A spokesman for NYU said a student called Won Moon Joo is listed as a junior at the Stern School of Business, but that he is not enrolled in classes and "the university was unaware of his travels."

The Korean Central News Agency reported that Joo was arrested on April 22 after he crossed the North Korean border via the Yalu River, which separates an area of China from the hermit kingdom. South Korean officials did not immediately confirm or deny the report.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Sarah Eberspacher

Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.