N.Korea releases Japanese citizen on 'humanitarian' grounds

North Korea has released a Japanese citizen who had been detained for allegedly violating the country's laws, with Pyongyang saying the decision was taken on humanitarian grounds.

North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) confirmed on Sunday that Tomoyuki Sugimoto, a Japanese national, had been released after being held by authorities for an unspecified offence.

According to the KCNA, Sugimoto had been under the control of a North Korean institution while authorities investigated the alleged violation. The agency said the relevant authorities later decided to show leniency and expel him from the country "on the principle of humanitarianism".

Pyongyang did not disclose what offence Sugimoto was accused of committing or how long he had been detained.

Japanese media had earlier reported that a 39-year-old Japanese video creator had been arrested in North Korea in August, and some reports suggested that the person could be Sugimoto.

He was believed to have been transferred to China, possibly by train or aircraft, although the Japanese government was still working to confirm his location and circumstances.

The release comes at a sensitive time in Japan-North Korea relations. Tokyo has continued to press Pyongyang to resolve the long-running issue of Japanese citizens allegedly abducted by North Korea decades ago.

North Korea, however, maintains that the abduction issue has already been settled. Pyongyang has instead called on Japan to acknowledge and compensate for what it describes as atrocities committed during Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

The release of the Japanese national could provide a temporary point of contact between the two countries, although major disagreements over the abduction issue and their historical relations remain unresolved.