A University of Virginia male student was arrested for what North Korea officials Friday called a “hostile act” orchestrated by the US government to undermine the authoritarian nation.
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The state-run agency, KCNA, said the student, Otto Frederick Warmbier, entered North Korea as a tourist but “with a goal to wreck the foundation of state unity … under the manipulation of the us government”. “However our secrecy when it comes to consular issues is absolute, we never comment on individual cases”, he said in a statement.
Jeffrey Fowle of Dayton was held for almost six months in 2014.
South Korea on Saturday reiterated its calls for coordination with regional powers over North Korea’s nuclear programs as the USA voiced its support for five-way nuclear talks.
The State Department said little about the case Friday, other than it was “aware of media reports” that a US citizen was detained.
The latest test triggered a flurry of diplomatic activity between the five non-North Korean members of the defunct talks process, with the US, Japan and South Korea urging China to take the lead in imposing stronger sanctions on its maverick neighbour. Back home, the married father of three said he’s doing well now.
The agency said the student entered North Korea as a tourist and the matter was under investigation by local authorities.
Warmbier is a 2013 graduate of Wyoming High School.
“North Koreans prioritize tourism”, he says. “We should be looking for varied and creative approaches besides just the six-party talks, including possibly attempting a five-party talks framework without North Korea”, she added.
According to his social media profiles, Warmbier is from Cincinnati and is an Echols Scholar, awarded to the top 7 percent of incoming first-year students at the University of Virginia, where he majors in economics with a minor in global sustainability.
The company said it was in touch with the man’s family, the U.S. State Department and the Swedish Embassy, which handles consular affairs for American citizens in North Korea because Washington and Pyongyang do not have diplomatic ties. Gareth Johnson of Young Pioneers told Reuters that Warmbier was detained in Pyongyang on January 2. The U.S. State Department has warned against travel to the North, however, and visitors, especially those from America, who break the country’s sometimes murky rules risk detention, arrest and possible jail sentences, although most have eventually been released.
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Earlier this month, North Korea presented to CNN a man who identified himself as Kim Dong Chul and said he was a naturalized American citizen who used to live in Fairfax, Virginia.
