North Korea today announced the arrest of a US university student for what it called a "hostile act" orchestrated by the American government to undermine the authoritarian nation.
In language that mirrors past North Korean claims of outside conspiracies, Pyongyang's state media said the University of Virginia student 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."
The North's official Korean Central News Agency said in a short report that the student, whom it identified as Warmbier Otto Frederick, was "arrested while perpetrating a hostile act," but didn't say when he was detained or explain the nature of the act.
North Korea has sometimes listed English-language surnames first, in the Korean style. The University of Virginia's online student directory lists someone named Otto Frederick Warmbier as an undergraduate commerce student.
A China-based tour company specializing in travel to North Korea, Young Pioneer Tours, confirmed that one of its customers, identified only as "Otto," had been detained in Pyongyang, the North's capital, but provided no other details. Social media accounts for Warmbier show interests in finance, travel and rap music; he was on the University of Virginia's dean's list and attended high school in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area.
The US State Department said in a statement that it was "aware of media reports that a US citizen was detained in North Korea," but had "no further information to share due to privacy considerations."
North Korea's announcement comes amid a diplomatic push by Washington, Seoul and their allies to slap Pyongyang with tough sanctions for its recent nuclear test.
In the past, 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 or diplomatic maneuvering room.
North Korea also regularly accuses Washington and Seoul of sending "spies" to overthrow its government to enable the US-backed South Korean government to control the entire Korean Peninsula.
Some foreigners previously arrested have read statements of guilt that they later said were coerced.
A few thousand Westerners are thought to visit North Korea each year, and Pyongyang is pushing for more tourists as a way to help its dismal economy.
