Tokyo, Aug 27 (AP) North Korea says a detained Japanese man has been expelled from the country.

The official Korean Central News Agency said yesterday that Tomoyuki Sugimoto had been "kept under control" for questioning about "his crime." It did not say what he had been accused of.

The brief report said authorities had decided "to leniently condone him" and expel him on the principle of humanitarianism. It described Sugimoto as a tourist.

The Japanese government confirmed about two weeks ago that it was looking into reports that one of its citizens had been detained. It has not identified him by name.

Japan's Kyodo News service quoted a government source saying the man was believed to be a videographer and may have been suspected of shooting video of a military facility. (AP)

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