Last Tuesday, US Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) also told VOA over the phone that the two US states are within range of North Korean missiles.

The period when Americans searched the North most on the Net was the last week of July, when Han Song-ryol, then director-general of the US affairs department at the North's Foreign Ministry, said that the US has crossed the red line and declared war on the communist nation.

Han, now vice foreign minister, made the remarks against the US imposition of sanctions on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for his roles in the country's human rights abuses.

Han's remarks invited a sharp increase of hits as some US reports misrepresented them as the North's declaration of war against the US, the broadcaster said.

The assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the North Korean leader's half brother, last month was the issue that Americans showed the second-most interest in on the Internet, the broadcaster added. (Yonhap)