North Korea Will Release Detained South Korean Student, Seoul's Unification Ministry Says

UPDATE: 6:10 p.m. EDT -- North Korea has released Won Moon Joo, a South Korean student from New York University who was detained by Pyongyang in April, the South Korean government said, according to reports. The student was reportedly handed over to South Korean officials at the border Monday afternoon.

Original story:

South Korea announced Monday that North Korea had agreed to release a South Korean student who had been detained by Pyongyang authorities since April. Won Moon Joo, 21, who holds a permanent resident status in the United States, was arrested for allegedly crossing over to North Korea illegally across the Chinese border, according to the Associated Press.

The South Korean Unification Ministry confirmed that North Korea will send back Joo through the border village of Panmunjom Monday at 5:30 pm, local time, (4:30 a.m. EDT) on the inter-Korean border, Al Jazeera reported.

Last month, Joo was made to sit before the media in Pyongyang for a 30-minute appearance. Joo told the media that he had not been able to contact his parents and that he was healthy, in a well-rehearsed speech, according to ABC News.

Joo, who was a student at the New York University, was detained while crossing from the Chinese side of the Yalu River, the Star Online reported.

"I thought that by my entrance to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea illegally, some great event could happen and hopefully that event could have a good effect on the relations between the two Koreas," Joo told CNN in May.

ABC News reported that Seoul believes North Korea is holding three other South Korean nationals and has urged Pyongyang to return the detainees. Joo's release will come just days before North Korea commemorates the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party on Oct. 10.