SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Monday returned a South Korean student from New York University who had been held since April, officials here said.

The student, Joo Won-moon, 21, was handed over to the South Korean authorities at the border village of Panmunjom on Monday afternoon, officials at the Unification Ministry of South Korea said.

In early May, North Korea said that it had arrested Mr. Joo on April 22 for illegally entering the country from China. It then arranged a series of interviews or news conferences in Pyongyang where Mr. Joo told foreign news media that the North Korean authorities had treated him well.

Now that he has been returned to the South, Mr. Joo will most likely face an interrogation on criminal charges of violating the National Security Law, which bans South Koreans from visiting the North without government permission.