Simultaneous to the increase in western visitors to North Korea from around 2,000 per year in 2002 to somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000, the number of tourists being detained in the country has also risen in recent years. Thus a look at recent arrest cases involving those on valid visas shows increasing risks of arrests for people who commit crimes in the country, a notable change since the era of Kim Jong Il when – at worst – tourists usually faced expulsion from the country.

Serviceman and Korean War veteran Merrill Newman was arrested in October 2013 and held for 42 days on charges of