Stephen Low, a language tutor for Rosetta Stone, found himself in hot water after wandering into a restricted military testing zone while walking along the North and South Korea border - when he was mistaken for a spy and held at gunpoint.

The 48-year-old had just completed his first year teaching English at a school near the DMZ, a demilitarised but heavily fortified area between North and South Korea.

To celebrate, he decided to mark the end of his contract with a solo hike along a popular trail near the border.

Surrounded by sniper huts and remnants of war, he opted to take shelter in an empty hut as the temperature began to drop near the summit.

Feeling the chill, the tutor lit a small fire, using a copy of the teen vampire book Twilight given to him by a friend as a joke.

But just moments later, everything changed.

Stephen Low, of Norwich, was mistaken for a spy and pointed at with gun in South Korea(Image: Rosetta Stone / Lem Uhn)

He said: "As the fire burned, lots of thick smoke began wafting out from the hut.

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