The U.S. has been unsuccessful in their recent attempts to contact the Korean-American detained last year allegedly on charges of committing crimes against the nation. The U.S. was able to make contact with Kenneth Bae via the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang, but access to Mr. Bae has not been granted in the last few weeks according to Victoria Nuland, the spokesperson for the Department of State.

The U.S. has an agreement with Sweden for the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang to act as a de facto embassy and deal with any consular related issues for American citizens.

Mr. Bae was leading a tour group that entered the country at the beginning of November. Early reports suggested he was arrested due to a member of his tour party having a disk containing classified information. Other reports have suggested his arrest was due to the taking of photographs. To date, the exact details of the charges brought against Mr. Bae have not been forthcoming.

Ms. Nuland said that, "As we said about three or four weeks ago, we had contact through our Swedish protecting power. We have not been able to have another contact since then. We continue to ask."

Source: Yonhap News