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North Korea will hand back an American citizen detained one month ago for illegally entering the country, it announced Friday, in a move that has raised hopes Kim Jong Un’s government wants to maintain a dialogue with the U.S. North Korean state media says the U.S. citizen was detained on Oct. 16 for illegally entering the country from China, claiming that he told investigators that he was under the direction of the CIA. North Korea didn’t explain why they decided to release him or give any details on when it might happen. Fears for Americans held in North Korea have escalated since Otto Warmbier, a U.S. university student, died last year days after he was released from North Korean captivity in a coma. Warmbier was accused of stealing a propaganda poster.