Tags: AS | NKorea | American Detained | The Latest

The Latest: N. Korean TV Broadcasts News of Detained Student

Saturday, 23 January 2016 07:22 AM EST

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The latest on the detention of an American student in North Korea (all times local):

6:40 p.m.

State-run North Korean television has broadcast a statement about the detention of an American student in Pyongyang.

A KRT news reader said in a Friday broadcast that "according to information available from a relevant institution, Warmbier Otto Frederick, student of Virginia University of the U.S., 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 with the tacit connivance of the U.S. government and under its manipulation. He is now under investigation."

It was identical to an earlier dispatch from the North's official Korean Central News Agency announcing the arrest.

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.

5:30 p.m.

A China-based tour company has confirmed that one if its clients has been detained in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

Young Pioneer Tours, which includes foreigners living in China who travel to North Korea, says the family of the American has been informed and the group has been touch with the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, which handles U.S. interests in the country.

The group says they are assisting the U.S. State Department closely in this situation.

They identified the man by his first name Otto, saying, "We would appreciate Otto's and his family's privacy being respected and we hope his release can be secured as soon as possible."

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.

KCNA identified the person as Warmbier Otto Frederick, a student at Virginia University. North Korea has sometimes listed English-language surnames first.

© Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


Asia
The latest on the detention of an American student in North Korea (all times local):6:40 p.m.State-run North Korean television has broadcast a statement about the detention of an American student in Pyongyang.A KRT news reader said in a Friday broadcast that "according to...
AS,NKorea,American Detained,The Latest
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2016-22-23
Saturday, 23 January 2016 07:22 AM
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