North Korea said Wednesday it had deported an elderly American aid worker for "plot-breeding" against the state.

North Korea said Wednesday it had deported an elderly American aid worker for "plot-breeding" against the state.

Pyongyang's official KCNA news agency identified her as Sandra Suh and said she had been a frequent visitor to North Korea in the past 20 years "under the pretence of humanitarianism".

In the guise of an aid worker she had "engaged in plot-breeding" and secretly taken photos and produced videos that had then been used as "propaganda abroad", KCNA said.

According to the dispatch, Suh had admitted her crimes and "earnestly begged for pardon".

Although KCNA did not specify how old Suh was, it said the decision had been made to deport rather than detain her "taking into full consideration her old age".