UVa Student Detained in North Korea

North Korea announced Friday it arrested the University of Virginia student for committing an unspecified “hostile act” while visiting the country.

Calls to the Warmbier home in Cincinnati, Ohio, were not immediately answered on Friday and nobody answered when a Reuters reporter knocked on the door of the house.

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.

“I’m asking the US or South Korean government to rescue me”, Mr Kim told a CNN correspondent through an interpreter at a hotel in Pyongyang.

The school district “has been in touch with the family of Otto Warmbier and we will have no additional comment at this time”, Max said Friday.

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

In the past, North Korea has exploited American prisoners to try to wring concessions from the United States or to compel senior officials to visit the country and meet with its leaders.

The State Department issued a statement saying it was aware of the reports but had no further information to share, citing privacy considerations.

KCNA said Warmbier had entered the country with an “aim to destroy the country’s unity”.

Warmbier grew up in Cincinnati and attended Wyoming High School from 2009-2013.

Since Warmbier was reported detained in North Korea, his Facebook page has been deactivated.

Gareth Johnson of Young Pioneer Tours, which organized the visit, said the company was in contact with Warmbier’s family and USA officials. We are also assisting the U.S Department of State closely with regards to the situation.

Earlier this week, Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken pressured China to play a stronger role punishing North Korea for the nuclear test.

The year before, the country released three Americans who had been detained. Critics say such trips have provided diplomatic credibility to the North.

Joo Won-moon, 21, a South Korean national, was freed days before Pyongyang celebrated the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party. About 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea.

CNN reported on January 11 that 62-year-old Korean American Kim Dong-chul was arrested on charge of espionage in October last year.