One of two Japanese citizens detained by Chinese authorities on suspicion of spying is believed to have traveled to areas near the Chinese-North Korean border to collect information about North Korea, Japanese government sources said.

The sources said the man was a North Korean defector who acquired Japanese citizenship and lived in Kanagawa Prefecture. He is believed to have engaged in information-gathering activities about North Korea by visiting the Chinese-North Korean border region once a month or so, drawing on his fluency in Korean, according to the sources.

The man is thought to have been detained in May this year, in or near the city of Dandong in Liaoning Province, northeastern China, the sources said.

The other Japanese person is a resident of Aichi Prefecture who was taken into custody in Pingyang County of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, they said.

A third male citizen of Japan has reportedly been detained in Beijing since about late June.

The man had been helping North Korean defectors and was taken into custody for illegally opening a bank account, sources said. He may also have been under suspicion of spying, according to the sources.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said at a regular press conference on Wednesday, '€œWe have confirmed the arrests of two Japanese for spying activities.'€ He did not comment about the possibility of a third Japanese person being in custody.

The Japanese Embassy in Beijing has refused to make any comments about individual cases.

Some Chinese local newspapers and online media organisations have reported the detention of the Japanese citizens by briefly quoting reports from Japan. But major Chinese media, such as China Central Television, have hardly reported it. (k)(++++)

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