BBC reporter detained, to be expelled from North Korea

London: BBC correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes has been detained in North Korea and will be expelled over his reporting.

He was one of three BBC staff, along with producer Maria Byrne and cameraman Matthew Goddard, detained on Friday as they were about to leave North Korea. He was questioned for eight hours by North Korean officials and was made to sign a statement.

The BBC team was in North Korea ahead of the Workers Party Congress, accompanying a delegation of Nobel prize laureates conducting a research trip. The North Korean leadership was displeased with their reports highlighting aspects of life in the capital.

The country's National Peace Committee told a press conference Monday in Pyongyang that the step was taken against the correspondent for attacking the North Korean system and non-objective reporting during the filming crew's stay. The correspondent will be banned from entering North Korea again, the committee added.