Japan's Kyodo news agency reports a Korean-American man has admitted to attempting to steal North Korean military secrets.
The agency says Kim Dong Chul, a naturalized American citizen, asked for mercy and described his actions as "shameful and ineffaceable" when he was paraded in front of the media in Pyongyang Friday.
Kim was arrested in October.
His confession comes a week after North Korea sentenced Otto Warmbier, an American student, to 15 years of hard labor for stealing a propaganda banner.
Observers say both Kim and Warmbier's confessions were likely coerced.
Warmbier's sentence and the threat of a similar one for Kim come amid mounting tensions following North Korea's launching of nuclear weapons tests and long-range rockets tests. Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have increased their defense readiness postures in response to the tests. U.S. and South Korean forces have conducted joint annual military exercises.
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