SOUTH KOREAN border guards arrested an American man who they believe was attempting to swim across a river into rival North Korea, a South Korean defense official said yesterday.

    The man was apprehended Tuesday night while lying on a bank of the Han River, which is in a restricted military area near the border, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to official policy. The man was in his late 20s or early 30s, Yonhap news agency said, and had told investigators that he tried to go to North Korea to meet leader Kim Jong Un.

    Americans are occasionally arrested after entering North Korea illegally from China but a U.S. citizen trying to get in from South Korea is unusual.

    Last year, South Korean soldiers shot and killed a man with a South Korean passport, who officials said ignored warnings while swimming across the Imjin River toward North Korea.(SD-Agencies)