A South Korean college student being held in North Korea told CNN that he intentionally entered the communist state illegally because he believed his arrest could have a good effect on inter-Korean relations.

Joo Won-moon, 21, a New York University student living in New Jersey, was arrested on April 22 for illegally crossing into the North. Pyongyang announced his arrest last Saturday. Joo was the fourth South Korean citizen to be detained in the North.

"I wanted to be arrested," Joo told CNN in the interview held at his hotel on Monday. "I thought that by my entrance to the DPRK, illegally I acknowledge, I thought that some great event could happen and hopefully that event could have a good effect on the relations between the North and the South."

DPRK is the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Joo said, however, he is not sure what great event could happen due to his actions.

"I hope that I will be able to tell the world how an ordinary college student entered the DPRK illegally but however with the generous treatment of the DPRK that I will be able to return home safely," he said.

Joo said he entered the North from the Chinese border city of Dandong, crossing two barbed wire fences and walking through farmland until he reached a large river. He said he followed the river until soldiers arrested him.

"I'm willing to accept any punishment," he said.

Joo said he has thought about visiting the North since February.

"Once the thought of entering the DPRK seeped into my mind, I couldn't really escape it. I guess I constantly thought about it," he said. "I thought that as an American permanent resident and South Korean citizen that my entrance could have some good effect."

Joo said he understands his parents are worried about him.

"I would like to say that I'm well and there's no need to worry because the people here have treated me with the best of humanitarian treatment."

Seoul's unification ministry on Wednesday renewed its call for North Korea to immediately release him.

"The Seoul government urges North Korea to guarantee the security of the South Korean national and provide the necessary support from a humanitarian perspective," Lim Byeong-cheol, spokesman at the Unification Ministry, told a press briefing.

"North Korea should immediately set him free."

Lim declined to comment on whether Joo's motive for illegal entrance could be identified or he could be punishable under the National Security Law if he is repatriated into Seoul. The National Security Law bans its citizens from openly praising North Korea.

Lim also called on the North to release three other South Koreans detained in North Korea including missionary Kim Jung-wook.

The other two detained South Koreans were allowed to have separate interviews with CNN on Sunday, in which they said they worked for Seoul's spy agency. CNN said it hasn't been able to independently verify their accounts. (Yonhap)