North Korea says it has arrested US university student

Warmbier Otto Frederick, a student at Virginia University, entered the country as a tourist, according to Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency.

“Although it is not an easy matter, relevant parties should find various and creative approaches, such as trying five-party talks excluding North Korea”, Park said Friday during a meeting with top government officials in Seoul.

Warmbier was on the dean’s list at the University of Virginia, CNN affiliate WCPO-TV reported.

North Korea announced Friday that Warmbier was arrested for committing a “hostile act” while visiting the authoritarian country.

Max says school officials are in communication with Warmbier’s family, which includes two sisters in Wyoming schools.

A few thousand Westerners visit North Korea each year, and Pyongyang is pushing for more tourists as a way to help its dismal economy. The talks once led North Korea to take major disarmament steps, but they have eventually failed to halt the North’s nuclear ambitions. The student, identified as Otto Frederick Warmbier, is now being held in Pyongyang. Warmbier’s visit was arranged by Young Pioneer Tours, a China-based company that boasts of providing “budget tours to destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from”. The man, identified as Kim Dong Chul, was held by Pyongyang government and authorities accused him of being involved in spying and stealing state secrets, according to CNN.

The report prompted the UN General Assembly to urge the UN Security Council to consider referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

But in a statement, the State Department said, “The welfare of us citizens is one of the department’s highest priorities”.

In general, the State Department “strongly recommends against all travel by US citizens to North Korea” because of the risk of arrest and long-term detention.

The six-party talks to denuclearise the peninsula, involving South Korea, North Korea, China, the US, Japan and Russian Federation, were halted since late 2008. Critics say such trips have provided diplomatic credibility to the North. About 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea.

Earlier this week, Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken pressured China to play a stronger role punishing North Korea for the nuclear test.