North Korea has released a detained Japanese tourist, raising expectations of a breakthrough in dialogue between Pyongyang and Tokyo. 

The North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said Sunday that Tomoyuki Sugimoto had been expelled on humanitarian grounds after being detained on suspicion of breaking the country’s laws.

The Japanese national, who is likely to have been detained in the North around August tenth, is presumed to have been sent to China by plane or train. 

Japan’s Kyodo News said the Japanese government is seeking to confirm details and that attention is being drawn to whether the North’s latest move holds a message for Japan.

[Photo : YONHAP News]