Seoul: North Korea yesterday announced the arrest of a US university student for what it called a &ldquo;hostile act&rdquo; orchestrated by the American government to undermine the authoritarian nation.
<img title="Kim Jong-un&rsquo;s regime has in the past occasionally announced the arrests of foreign detainees in times of tension. Pic/AFP" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2016/jan/Kim-Jong.jpg" alt="Kim Jong-un&rsquo;s regime has in the past occasionally announced the arrests of foreign detainees in times of tension. Pic/AFP" /> Kim Jong-un&rsquo;s regime has in the past occasionally announced the arrests of foreign detainees in times of tension. Pic/AFP
In language that mirrors past North Korean claims of outside conspiracies, Pyongyang&rsquo;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 &ldquo;the tacit connivance of the US government and under its manipulation.&rdquo; The North&rsquo;s official Korean Central News Agency said in a short report that the student, whom it identified as Warmbier Otto Frederick, was &ldquo;arrested while perpetrating a hostile act,&rdquo; but didn&rsquo;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&rsquo;s online student directory lists someone named Otto Frederick Warmbier as an undergraduate commerce student.
Social media accounts for Warmbier show interests in finance, travel and rap music; he was on his university&rsquo;s dean&rsquo;s list and attended high school in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The US State Department said in a statement that it was &ldquo;aware of media reports that a US citizen was detained in North Korea,&rdquo; but had &ldquo;no further information to share due to privacy considerations.&rdquo;

North Koreans claim the boy was sent by the US government under the guise of a tourist to destroy the country&rsquo;s unity

N Korea arrests US student for 'hostile act'

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N Korea arrests US student for 'hostile act'

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