BBC reporter detained, expelled from N Korea for ‘over reporting’

The correspondent will be banned from entering North Korea again, the committee added.

BBC correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes has been detained in North Korea and is to be expelled from the country over reporting.

North Korean man walks out of an underpass while seen framed by the Workers' Party flags. (AP)

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 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.