The number of American men being held in North Korea has risen to three, after a Korean-American aid worker was arrested trying to leave the country.
The man, in his fifties, has only been identified by his last name, Kim, and was trying to leave the country after a month's visit. The Swedish Embassy, which handles all US consular affairs as the US has no diplomatic presence in North Korea, has said it is aware of a Korean-American man being detained, but offered no further comment.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that Kim was there to discuss relief activities, but was arrested at Pyongyang International Airport as he was about to depart.
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Two other American men are currently being detained in North Korea, Kim Dong Chul and Otto Warmbier, who were arrested for espionage and hostile acts, respectively, the Daily Mail reports.
A woman walks along the highway from downtown Pyongyang to Sunan International Airport. Credit: PA
In the past the country has done this to extract high-profile visits from America, and has been criticised for its human rights record.
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It also comes at a time when people are increasingly worried about the relationship between the US and North Korea, as the possibility of nuclear war looms.
North Korea previously warned that it will wipe the US 'off the face of the Earth' as well as accusing America of planning a chemical weapons attack.
In a new report published by state media on Saturday, the country's totalitarian regime has claimed Donald Trump's administration is plotting an 'unprecedented disaster' on the nation.
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Authorities in the country say they will not remain a 'passive onlooker' and that they will move to destroy the US in response.
State newspaper The Rodong Sinmun said: "The DPRK will never remain a passive onlooker to the moves of the US to provoke a biochemical war against it but will conclude the standoff with the US, the empire of evils, by wiping it off the face of the Earth.
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"The US must not disregard the warning of the DPRK that its reckless military moves would lead to its most miserable final doom."
The report, entitled 'US Biochemical War Plan against Korean Nation under Fire', claimed the US is plotting a chemical weapons attack on the country.
The state newspaper adds: "The US has fully revealed its criminal scenario to make no scruple of using biochemical weapons to exterminate the Korean nation in order to realize its wild ambition for dominating the world.
"Recently, the US is busy floating the wild rumor about "threat from biochemical weapons" of the DPRK. Lurking behind this is its sinister design to secure a pretext for provoking a biochemical war against the DPRK."
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The country has frequently claimed the US government was preparing a biochemical attack that would overthrow Kim Jong-un.
Source: Al Jazeera, Yonhap News, Rodong Sinmum and Daily Mail
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