(CNN) A Korean-American currently detained in North Korea has confessed to espionage charges, a North Korean official told CNN.

The detained man, Kim Dong Chul, told CNN's Will Ripley in January that he used to live in Fairfax, Virginia.

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Kim, a naturalized American, said he moved to Yanji, a city near the Chinese-North Korean border that acts as a trade hub between the two countries, in 2001.

From Yanji, Kim said he commuted daily to Rason, a special economic zone on the North Korean side of the border, where he served as president of a company involved in international trade and hotel services.