A Tenafly man who has been detained in North Korea says he hoped he could improve the relationship between North Korea and South Korea.

Won-Moon Joo tells CNN that he illegally crossed into North Korea on purpose because he believed he could trigger an event that would have a good effect between the two countries.

"I thought some great event could happen and hopefully the event could have a good effect in the relations between the North and the South," the NYU student says. "I would just want to apologize for creating a lot of worry among my loved ones."

During the interview, Joo didn't seem alarmed that he could be facing serious charges and prison time.

South Korea is fighting on his behalf, but his fate remains unclear.