--- description: Jeffrey Edward Fowle entered the pariah state as a tourist on April 29 title: North Korea Investigating Detained American image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # North Korea Detains American Tourist  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 6, 2014 12:53 PM CUT  by [Denver Nicks](/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 6, 2014 12:53 PM CUT North Korea [announced](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/07/world/asia/north-korea-detains-another-american.html?hp&%5Fr=0 "undefined") Friday it has detained and is investigating an American man who entered the country as a tourist. Jeffrey Edward Fowle entered the country on April 29, according to Pyongyang, and “perpetrated activities that violated the laws of our republic, which did not fit his stated purpose of visiting our republic as a tourist.” The state news agency offered no further details about Fowle or the supposed crimes for which he has been detained. Fowle’s detention makes him the third American currently known to be in detention in North Korea. Missionary Kenneth Bae was sentenced to 15 years hard labor after being caught in the North in 2012\. Matthew Todd Miller, according to the account offered by Pyongyang, arrived in the capital city on April 10 and demanded asylum., the New York _Times_ reports. “We are aware of reports that a third U.S. citizen was detained in North Korea,” a State Department official told the _Times_. “There is no greater priority for us than the welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad. The official added that the U.S. strongly discourages U.S. citizens from traveling to North Korea “due to the risk of arbitrary detention or arrest.” \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/07/world/asia/north-korea-detains-another-american.html?hp&%5Fr=0 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2837453/north-korea-detained-american/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2837453/north-korea-detained-american/"},"headline":"North Korea Detains American Tourist","datePublished":"2014-06-06T12:53:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:15:42.872Z","description":"Jeffrey Edward Fowle entered the country as a tourist on April 29","url":"https://time.com/2837453/north-korea-detained-american/","keywords":["North Korea","pyongyang"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2837453/north-korea-detained-american/","name":"North Korea Detains American Tourist"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What's at Stake in North Korea's Power Struggle","description":"What do we know about the shifting balance of power inside one of the world's most opaque nations?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/86EmFs0C/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-01-07T21:07:46.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/86EmFs0C.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/2837453/north-korea-detained-american/","duration":"PT2M55S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/2837453/north-korea-detained-american/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```