OTTAWA, Jan 23, 2008 (AFP) - A Canadian businessman providing dental aid to impoverished North Koreans has been detained for more than two months in the reclusive state, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

Je Yell Kim, a Korean-born Canadian aged in his fifties, was detained in the remote northeast of the country on November 3, the Toronto Star daily reported on its website, citing Kim's family and aid groups.

The news had not been announced earlier pending diplomat efforts to have him freed, it said. It cited the humanitarian group he worked for, Christian Aid, as saying he was held on charges related to "national security."

The Canadian foreign ministry did not comment on Kim's detention, but ministry spokesman Rodney Moore said its ambassador to South Korea, Ted Lipman, was on a "routine, previously scheduled trip" to the North until January 25.

"Ambassador Lipman is there to discuss a range of issues, including denuclearization, inter-Korean relations, multi-lateral humanitarian assistance, and human rights with North Korean officials," he told AFP.

Kim lives in Edmonton, capital of the Canadian province of Alberta. He had been bringing dental supplies and setting up clinics in northeastern North Korea for nearly a decade with official approval, the report said.

North Korea in September said it had arrested several foreigners accused of spying on military installations.

gl/rlp/bm AFP 240445 GMT 01 08

Copyright (c) 2008 Agence France-Presse
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 01/23/2008 23:45:58