The DPRK says it will put a US citizen on trial for conspiracy to overthrow the government. 44-year-old Bae Jun-ho, known in the US as Kenneth Bae, is said by authorities in Pyongyang to have "admitted that he committed crimes aimed at toppling the DPRK with hostility toward it".

Bae was arrested last November when he entered the country as a tour guide. It is reported that DPRK officials recovered a hard disk from Bae containing sensitive information. The exact charges he faces remains unclear, along with the date when a verdict was expected. Officials said the penalties would be very serious, and included a possible death sentence.

US authorities have made no comments on the statement. In January, the former governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson, and the chief executive of Google Eric Schmidt, travelled to DPRK to negotiate Bae’s release, but were denied access to him.

Bae, who is of Korean descent, is the sixth American to be detained in the DPRK since 2009. Several US citizens, including journalists and Christians accused of proselytism, have been released in recent years after intervention by senior US statesmen.