If so, Otto Frederick Warmbier would be the third western citizen known to be held in the isolated state.
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“Gareth Johnson of China-based Young Pioneer Tours confirmed Wambier was on one of its tours and said he had been detained in North Korea on January 2”.
North Korea’s official KCNA news agency said Friday the country’s authorities had arrested a U.S. student who, under orders from Washington, had engaged in an unspecified “hostile act” after entering the country on a tourist visa.
The U.S. university student North Korea says it has arrested was a top student at a suburban Cincinnati high school.
The student’s family has been notified of the arrest and is working with the State Department, the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Swedish Embassy to address the situation, the tour company said in a statement on its website.
China is under growing pressure from South Korea and the U.S.to use its economic leverage on North Korea to make it abandon its nuclear programs.
The Korean-language KCNA report said the detainee was a Virginia university student and had entered the country with an ” aim to destroy the country’s unity”.
The US State Department issued updated travel advice in November 2015, with strong recommendations against all travel by USA citizens to the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea).
They identified the man by his first name Otto, saying, “We would appreciate Otto’s and his family’s privacy being respected and we hope his release can be secured as soon as possible”.
Earlier this month, CNN reported that North Korea had detained another USA citizen, Kim Dong Chul, on suspicion of spying.
South Korean-born Canadian pastor Hyeon Soo Lim was sentenced last month to hard labour for life, according to state media.
While the vast majority of tourists to North Korea are from China, roughly 6,000 westerners visit the country annually. Critics say such trips have provided diplomatic credibility to the North.
Bae was released in November, 2014, along with fellow American Matthew Miller, after a secret mission to Pyongyang led by United States intelligence chief James Clapper.
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“We should find various and creative approaches, including attempting to hold five-way talks excluding North Korea”, Park was quoted as telling officials by local news agency Yonhap.
