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An American professor who was arrested by North Korea is being held for committing "hostile acts", the country's state media has reported.

The man - named as Kim Sang Duk - was detained at Pyongyang airport in late April.

The state-run KCNA news agency said the American was arrested at the Pyongyang airport for committing "hostile criminal acts with an aim to subvert the country".

Law enforcement authorities were conducting an investigation into the crime, KCNA said.

The Korean-American - who also goes by the name Tony Kim - had spent a month teaching an accounting course at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), the university's chancellor, Chan-Mo Park said.

(Image: AFP)

Kim, who is in his fifties, was detained by North Korean officials at Pyongyang International Airport as he attempted to leave the country in April.

The university's executive leadership released a statement last month saying that it "has learned that Mr Sang Duk (Tony) Kim was detained" by North Korean authorities as he was about to leave the country, "after several weeks of service, teaching at PUST".

"We understand that this detention is related to an investigation into matters that are not connected in any way with the work of PUST."

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The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, which helps in handling US affairs in North Korea, with which the United States does not have diplomatic relations, said that it was aware of a Korean American citizen being detained recently.

Martina Aberg, deputy head of mission for the Swedish Embassy in North Korea, said: "We have been informed and can confirm there has been a detention of a US citizen.

"He was prevented from getting on the flight out of Pyongyang. We can't comment further than this."

(Image: Reuters)

South Korean media said that Kim had been doing aid and relief work in North Korea.

Kim is one of three US citizens held in North Korea, with Otto Frederick Warmbier arrested in January 2016 and Kim Dong Chul arrested in October 2015, although his status was not known until January 2016.

The detention comes at a time of unusually heightened tensions between the US and North Korea.

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(Image: AFP)

Both countries have recently been trading threats of war and having another American in jail will likely up the ante even further.