According to KCNA, North Korea’s official news agency, Wambier was arrested as a tourist after he “was caught committing a hostile act against the state”, an act that must have been “tolerated and manipulated by the U.S. government”.
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North Korea said it had arrested a USA student who, under orders from Washington, had engaged in an unspecified “hostile act” after entering the country on a tourist visa.
Warmbier’s detention comes as the the U.N. Security Council is working on a tough sanctions resolution against North Korea in response to Pyongyang’s nuclear test earlier this month.
He was in North Korea with Young Pioneer Tours, a China-based company founded in 2008.
The U.S. says North Korea should first abide by its previous commitments to denuclearize.
“I expect China to take effective measures to make sure North Korea can recognize that the development of its nuclear program serves no objective, and that it should re-join the worldwide community as Iran did”, Park said.
“One of the remarkable things about North Korea, as in many totalitarian regimes, is that they are completely honest about what outsiders say about them”, he said. The U.S. and North Korea have no formal diplomatic ties.
US Rep Brad Wenstrup, whose district includes the area where Warmbier went to high school, tweeted on Friday that his office was asking the State Department “to assist however possible in getting Mr. Warmbier home”. So this is being seen as North Korea’s latest attempt to win some leverage.
“You guys please pray for my friend Otto Warmbier he is now being detained in North Korea!!”
The 1950-53 war on the divided Korean peninsula ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, and both countries maintain watch over a demilitarized zone that separates them.
The tour group has reportedly been in touch with Warmbier’s family, United States officials and the Swedish Embassy in North Korea.
University of Virginia spokesman Anthony P.de Bruyn told BuzzFeed News that the university had been in contact with Warmbier’s family, but had no further comment at this stage.
This will be the third Westerner to be detained by North Korea if the reports are accurate.
In November 2014, U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper flew to Pyongyang and secured the release of two U.S. citizens, one of whom was detained there for two years, after negotiations.
The state department strongly advises Americans against travelling to North Korea. Warmbier was scheduled to fly from Pyongyang to China.
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A South Korean-born Canadian pastor was arrested in North Korea a year ago and given a life sentence for subversion.
