North Korea says detains US student for ‘hostile act’

According to the North’s official KCNA news agency, Warmbier entered North Korea as a tourist and “was caught committing a hostile act against the state”, which it said was “tolerated and manipulated by the USA government”. The date of his arrest for allegedly “perpetrating a hostile act” wasn’t clear, nor were any details of what he did.

To discuss how best to respond the latest nuclear test with senior Chinese officials, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to arrive in Beijing next Wednesday.

North Korea said Warmbier was acting under “the US government’s acquiescence and control”, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

The Young Pioneer Tour group, a China-based company that arranges travel to North Korea, confirmed Warmbier’s detention and said it was trying to address the situation through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Social media accounts for Warmbier show interests in finance, travel and rap music.

The University of Virginia website lists an undergraduate with that name at the McIntire School of Commerce, the university’s business school.

Warmbier was a top student at his high school and was described as a skilled soccer player.

Frederick graduated from Wyoming High School in Cincinnati.

An attorney who represented Jeffrey Fowle in 2014 advised caution for those involved with the student. North Korea has sometimes listed English-language surnames first. He says family members and others should be careful not to say anything that might jeopardize negotiations. The married father of three attends church regularly with his family and returned to work with the city of Moraine street department near Dayton.

Fowle said in 2014 he had left a Bible in a North Korean nightclub in hopes it would reach underground Christians.

Pyongyang has in the past used detained US citizens to extract high-profile visits from the United States, with which it has no formal diplomatic relations. On occasion, North Korea has previously touted the arrests of foreigners in times of tension with the West in a thinly veiled attempt to gain concessions.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton traveled to North Korea in 2009 and met with the then leader Kim Jong Il, following which two American journalists were released from custody in the country.

Earlier this month, CNN reported that North Korea had detained Kim Dong Chul, another USA citizen, on suspicion of spying and stealing state secrets.

An official at the United States embassy in the South Korean capital Seoul said it was aware of the reported arrest.

Those countries are now seeking to pave the way for tougher global sanctions on North Korea, while at the same time piling up pressure on China, one of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, to use more of its leverage over Pyongyang. Most are adventure-seekers curious about life behind the last sliver of the iron curtain, and ignore critics who say their dollars prop up a repressive regime.

Since October, North Korea has been repeatedly calling on the United States to engage in talks for a permanent peace treaty to replace the armistice that stopped, but technically never ended, the 1950-53 Korean War.