Pyongyang news agency reports that student entered as a tourist on orders from Washington to undermine national unity

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

An American university student has been arrested in North Korea for what the country’s official news agency described as a “hostile act” orchestrated by Washington.

In language that mirrors past claims of outside conspiracies, the Korean Central News Agency said the individual entered the country under the guise of a tourist and plotted to destroy North Korean unity with “the tacit connivance of the US government and under its manipulation”.

It said he was “arrested while perpetrating a hostile act” but did not say when he was detained or explain the nature of the act.

The student was named as Warmbier Otto Frederick. North Korea has sometimes listed English-language surnames first, in the Korean style, and the University of Virginia’s online student directory lists someone named Otto Frederick Warmbier as an undergraduate commerce student.

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Young Pioneer Tours, a China-based tour company specialising in travel to North Korea, confirmed that one of its customers, identified only as “Otto”, had been detained but provided no other details.



North Korea’s announcement comes amid a diplomatic push by Washington, Seoul and their allies to bring tough sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test. North Korea has occasionally announced the arrests of foreign detainees in times of tension with the outside world in an apparent attempt to wrest concessions.

Some foreigners previously arrested have read statements of guilt that they later said were coerced.

Earlier this month, CNN reported that North Korea had detained another US citizen on suspicion of spying. The US State Department said it could not confirm the CNN report and declined to discuss the issue further.

North Korea is holding at least three South Koreans and one Canadian.