North Korea said today that an American man it detained two weeks ago was intercepted because he was attempting to commit "hostile acts".

The state-run KCNA news agency reporting that Kim Sang Dok, who also goes by Tony Kim, is accused of 'attempted subversion'.

Kim was arrested at Pyongyang airport in late April.

He was in North Korea teaching an accounting course at the capital's University of Science and Technology.

The latest information comes as tensions on the Korean peninsula run high, amidst concerns the North might conduct its sixth nuclear test in defiance of US pressure and United Nations sanctions.

In the past, North Korea has detained Americans to prompt high-profile visits from the United States.

Two other US citizens were sentenced to at least a decade of hard labour last year.

Neither has appeared in public since their sentencing.

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