A leading Japanese daily says North Korea is holding two Japanese nationals.

The Asahi Shimbun said Wednesday that North Korean authorities detained three Japanese men at the free economic zone in Rason City last month for allegedly attempting to smuggle out drugs. The authorities later released one of the three men.

The report said the men visited Rason early last month to fix machinery at a food company. They were detained after being suspected of hiding drugs in canned food products that were to be exported to China.