This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/north-korea-says-arrested-us-university-student/2016/01/22/b383c794-c0d8-11e5-98c8-7fab78677d51_story.html

The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
North Korea says arrested a Virginia university student North Korea says it has arrested a Virginia student for ‘hostile acts’
(35 minutes later)
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Friday that it had arrested an American university student for alleged anti-state acts. TOKYO – North Korea said Friday it had arrested a university student from Virginia for committing “hostile acts” against the state, making him the third foreigner being held by Kim Jong Un’s regime.
Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency reported that authorities are investigating the student who it says entered the North as a tourist with a plot to undermine a unity among the North Koreans. It said the student has links to the U.S. government. The student, who arrived on a tourist visa, was being questioned by North Korean officials after taking part in “anti-state activity,” the official Korean Central News Agency said in a short statement Friday.
KCNA identified the person as Warmbier Otto Frederick, a student at Virginia University. North Korea has sometimes listed English-language surnames first. KCNA identified the student as Warmbier Otto Frederick, a student at the University of Virginia.
The announcement came as Washington, Seoul and others are pushing hard to slap North Korea with tougher sanctions for its recent nuclear test. In the past, North Korea often announced the arrests of foreign detainees in times of tension with the outside world in an apparent attempt to wrest concessions. North Korea said Warmbier “was arrested while perpetrating a hostile act against the DPRK after entering it under the guise of tourist for the purpose of bringing down the foundation of its single-minded unity at the tacit connivance of the U.S. government and under its manipulation.”
Earlier this month, CNN reported that North Korea had detained another U.S. citizen on suspicion of spying. It said a man identified as Kim Dong Chul was being held by the Pyongyang government and said authorities had accused him of engaging in spying and stealing state secrets. There are currently two other foreigners known to be being held in North Korea: A Korean-American man and a Korean-Canadian pastor.
The U.S. State Department said it could not confirm the CNN report. It declined to discuss the issue further or confirm whether the U.S. was consulting with Sweden, which handles U.S. consular issues in North Korea because Washington and Pyongyang do not have diplomatic relations. Earlier this month, North Korea presented to CNN a man who identified himself as Kim Dong Chul and said he was a naturalized American citizen who used to live in Fairfax, Virginia. "I'm asking the U.S. or South Korean government to rescue me," Kim, 62, told the network.
The United States and North Korea are in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. About 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea. Separately, North Korea convicted Lim Hyeon-soo, a 60-year-old South Korea-born pastor from Toronto, of committing “activities against” North Korea and sentenced him to life serving hard labor.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Earlier this month, North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test, sparking international condemnation and leading to efforts to impose new sanctions on the regime. The latest arrest will stoke speculation that Pyongyang wants to use the detainees as bargaining chips to water down the punishment for that test.