North Korea has deported a Gunma Prefecture man who illegally entered the communist country, Pyongyang's state-run news agency, KCNA, reported Thursday.
The man was handed over to the Foreign Ministry, according to the report.
Following the report, Foreign Ministry officials confirmed the handover, but offered no further details.
According to KCNA, Masahiro Sekiguchi had entered North Korea on June 7 to escape family problems in Japan. The agency said he was returned to Japan on Wednesday.
According to the KCNA report, Sekiguchi had traveled to China's Jilin Province and swam across the Yalu River to North Korea. The report stated that, having confirmed that the man had entered the country for purely personal reasons, North Korean authorities returned him to Japan.
The man had reportedly sought asylum in Germany in January, but his request was turned down.
In 2003, a Japanese woman, Kazumi Kitagawa, jumped off a ferry and swam across a river between China and North Korea to seek asylum in the latter.