PYONGYANG - A US tourist was detained in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for hostile acts, the official KCNA news agency reported on Friday.

Jeffrey Edward Fowle, who entered the country on April 29, conducted acts against his tourism goal and violated the DPRK law, the KCNA said.

The DPRK authorities were conducting an investigation on his anti-DPRK hostile acts, according to the KCNA.

An official of the US State Department said the department was aware of a third American reportedly being detained in the DPRK, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported on Friday.

Just two months ago, the DPRK detained a US tourist for "rash behavior" as US President Barack Obama met with his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye in Seoul.

The 24-year-old American, Miller Matthew Todd, was placed in custody on April 10 when he tore up his visa, claiming to seek an asylum.

Kenneth Bae, a Korean-American missionary, was arrested in November 2012 and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor last year for anti-state crimes.

Another US tourist, 85-year-old Korean War veteran Merrill Newman, was arrested in October and held for more than a month. He was released and deported after reading a videotaped apology for killing the DPRK soldiers and people during the 1950-53 war.