SEOUL - North Korea said on Friday it had detained a 24-year-old American tourist earlier in April for what it said was "a gross violation of its legal order."
"A relevant organ of the DPRK put in custody American Miller Matthew Todd, 24, on April 10 for his rash behavior in the course of going through formalities for entry into the DPRK to tour it," the country's official KCNA news agency said, using the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
KCNA said Todd had a tourist visa for the DPRK, but tore it to pieces and shouted that he had come "to the DPRK after choosing it as a shelter."