The North’s state-run KCNA news agency said the person entered North Korea as a tourist and was “was caught committing a hostile act against the state” which it said was “tolerated and manipulated by the US government”. The student was identified Warmbier Otto Frederick by KCNA, the Associated Press reported.
Advertisement
Young Pioneer Tours, a foreign tour agency, confirmed Warmbier had been detained in Pyongyang. We are also assisting the U.S Department of State closely with regards to the situation. She said school officials were in communication with Warmbier’s family, which includes two sisters in Wyoming schools.
The U.S. State Department, in a statement, said it was aware of reports that a U.S. citizen had been detained in North Korea but gave no other details, citing privacy concerns.
He was detained “while perpetrating a hostile act against the DPRK”, it added, using the official acronym for North Korea.
The University of Virginia website lists an undergraduate with that name at the McIntire School of Commerce, the university’s business school.
North Korea often announces news of detained foreigners in times of tensions to gain leverage against the outside world.
North Korea has yet to comment on the report.
North Korea in the past has sometimes released or deported USA detainees after high-profile Americans visited the country. Critics say such trips have provided diplomatic credibility to the North.
Warmbier is the second American now held hostage in North Korea.
Ms. Park on Friday urged China to take unspecified “effective” measures to make North Korea follow in the footsteps of Iran, which past year agreed to curb its nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of worldwide sanctions.
Advertisement
The president said though the six-party talks were effective as a tool in the past to resolve the nuclear issue, the effectiveness is now called into question as the talks have not been held for long and helped little denuclearise the Korean peninsula. The tour company said that they have notified the family and in contact with Swedish Embassy which represents US interests in North Korea, the news site wrote.
