North Korea says US student arrested for anti-state acts

[webfact]

North Korea says arrested US university student

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Friday that it had arrested an American university student for alleged anti-state acts.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

-- (c) Associated Press 2016-01-22

[NickJ]

Seems to me that the people who visit N.Korea are Fanatical Christian Zealots, The Disturbed, like Dennis Rodman , Spys or a blend of the all three. Why bother even wasting time and effort on them. There is almost zero chance of actuall meeting a real, average everday miserable N. Korean. Going there while knowing what its like is the same as chasing an angus bull with a sore asss across a field.

Edited January 22, 2016 by NickJ

[gerrytraveller]

.....Going there while knowing what its like...???????

Does that assume the person has already been there..???

for goodness sake..surely it is possible that there are people other then the "do gooders" you refer to who wish to actually see for themselves no matter how bad it maybe is..or do we just want to sit in armchairs and watch CNN?

[NickJ]

You dont meet anyone or see anything they dont want you to. Checklist for visitors. Bible, lithium and decoder ring.

[ggt]

Is there anything an American can do in N, Korea...that is not considered an anti-state act?

Military dictatorships do not need an excuse to arrest citizens...local or foreign...

I can think of at least one other country where intimidation and stifling of free speech is the norm...

[arjunadawn]

Seems to me that the people who visit N.Korea are Fanatical Christian Zealots, The Disturbed, like Dennis Rodman , Spys or a blend of the all three. Why bother even wasting time and effort on them. There is almost zero chance of actuall meeting a real, average everday miserable N. Korean. Going there while knowing what its like is the same as chasing an angus bull with a sore asss across a field.

This is not new to N Korea however, recent events in the middle east confirm that this behavior does provide a fulcrum that can leverage other, unrelated issues. I think the US could have conducted its negotiations with Iran better (regarding held Americans) but the US did have to do something- holding Americans works. These recent events strengthen North Korea resolve that pawns can be later leveraged for concessions. If this person was or was not a spy does not change the above reality.