North Korea says U.S. student confessed to theft of item with propaganda slogan

OttoFrederickWarmbier,aUniversityofVirginiastudentwhohasbeendetainedinNorthKoreasinceearlyJanuary,attendsanewsconferenceinPyongyang,NorthKorea,inthisphotoreleasedbyKyodoFebruary29,2016.REUTERS/KYODO

(REUTERS) AU.S.studentheldinNorthKoreasinceearlyJanuarywasdetainedfortryingtostealanitembearingapropagandasloganfromhisPyongyanghotelandhasconfessedto"severecrimes"againstthestate,theNorth'sofficialmediasaidonMonday.

OttoWarmbier,21,aUniversityofVirginiastudent,wasdetainedbeforeboardinghisflighttoChinaoveranunspecifiedincidentathishotel,histouragencytoldReutersinJanuary.

NorthKoreahasalonghistoryofdetainingforeignersandhasusedjailedU.S.citizensinthepasttoexacthigh-profilevisitsfromtheUnitedStates,withwhichithasnoformaldiplomaticrelations.

"Icommittedthecrimeoftakingoutapoliticalsloganfromthestaff-onlyareaoftheYanggakdoInternationalHotel,"theNorth'sKCNAnewsagencyquotedWarmbierastellingmediainPyongyang,theNorthKoreancapital.Itdidnotsaywhattheitemwas.

CNNshowedvideoofasobbingWarmbiersaying:"Ihavemadetheworstmistakeofmylife,butpleaseacttosaveme."

Warmbiersaida"deaconess"hadofferedhimausedcarworth$10,000ifhecouldpresentaU.S.churchwiththesloganasa"trophy"fromNorthKorea,KCNAsaid.

Theacquaintancealsosaidthechurchwouldpayhismother$200,000ifhewasdetainedbytheNorthanddidnotreturn,KCNAquotedWarmbierassaying.

U.S.studentOttoWarmbierbowsatanewsconferenceinthisundatedphotoreleasedbyNorthKorea'sKoreanCentralNewsAgency(KCNA)inPyongyangFebruary29,2016.REUTERS/KCNA

"Mycrimeisverysevereandpre-planned,"Warmbierwasquotedassaying,addingthathewasimpressedbyNorthKorea's"humanitariantreatmentofseverecriminalslikemyself."

TheWhiteHousesaidonMondayitwasawareofWarmbier'ssituationandwasworkingcloselywithSweden,theUnitedStates'protectingpowerinNorthKorea,tolearnasmuchasitcanaboutWarmbier'sdetention.

"There'snogreaterpriorityfortheadministrationthanthewelfareandsafetyofU.S.citizensabroad,"WhiteHousespokesmanJoshEarnesttoldadailybriefing.

U.S.studentOttoWarmbierreactsatanewsconferenceinthisundatedphotoreleasedbyNorthKorea'sKoreanCentralNewsAgency(KCNA)inPyongyangFebruary29,2016.REUTERS/KCNA

Warmbier'sparentshavenotheardfromhimsincehisarrest,accordingtoastatementfromhisfamilyprovidedbytheUniversityofVirginia.

"IhopethefactthathehasconveyedhissincereapologyforanythingthathemayhavedonewrongwillnowmakeitpossiblefortheDPRK(NorthKorea)authoritiestoallowhimtoreturnhome,"thestatementsaid.

"IurgetheDPRKgovernmenttoconsiderhisyouthandmakeanimportanthumanitariangesturebyallowinghimtoreturntohislovedones."

OtherWesternersdetainedinNorthKoreapreviouslyhaveconfessedtocrimesagainstthestate.

NorthKorea'sstatemediasaidinJanuarythatWarmbier"wascaughtcommittingahostileactagainstthestate",whichitsaidwas"toleratedandmanipulatedbytheU.S.government".

OttoFrederickWarmbier(3rdR),aUniversityofVirginiastudentwhohasbeendetainedinNorthKoreasinceearlyJanuary,attendsanewsconferenceinPyongyang,NorthKorea,inthisphotoreleasedbyKyodoFebruary29,2016.REUTERS/KYODO

TheseniorpastoratFriendshipUnitedMethodistChurchinWyoming,Ohio,toldCNNhedidnotknowthepersonidentifiedbyWarmbierintheKCNAstoryasadeaconessthere,andsaidWarmbierwasnotamemberofthecongregation.

Warmbier,amemberoftheThetaChifraternityattheUniversityofVirginia,isstudyingeconomicswithaminoringlobalsustainability,accordingtohisLinkedinpage.Membersofthefraternitywerenotimmediatelyavailableforcomment.

WarmbierwasafinanceandoperationsinternatFinishingTechnology,hisfather'sfirm,fromJune2010toAugust2013,andhelpedrunastudentinvestmentfundattheUniversityofVirginia,accordingtohisLinkedinprofile.

OttoFrederickWarmbier(R),aUniversityofVirginiastudentwhohasbeendetainedinNorthKoreasinceearlyJanuary,bowsduringanewsconferenceinPyongyang,NorthKorea,inthisphotoreleasedbyKyodoFebruary29,2016.REUTERS/KYODO

HealsotookaclassattheLondonSchoolofEconomicsandPoliticalSciencein2015.

AccordingtoKCNA,WarmbiersaidhewasencouragedinhisactbyamemberoftheZSociety,anelitephilanthropicorganizationthathehopedtojoinattheuniversity.

Anofficialintheuniversity'scommunicationsofficecouldnotimmediatelybereachedforcomment.

WarmbiergrewupinWyoming,Ohio,northeastofCincinnati.HeattendedWyomingHighSchool,wherehewasthesalutatorianofhisgraduatingclassandwasnamedstudentoftheyear,accordingtoLinkedin.

Adistrictspokeswomandeclinedtospeakabouthistimeattheschool.

Warmbierwasactiveinswimmingwhenhewasyounger,accordingtoablogoperatedbyalocalathleticboosterorganization,andhevolunteeredasacoachforalocalchildren'sswimteam.

Warmbier,onafive-dayNewYear'stourofNorthKoreawithagroupof20,wasdelayedatimmigrationbeforebeingtakenawaybytwoairportofficials,accordingtoatouroperatorthathadsponsoredthetrip.

WhilemosttouriststoNorthKoreaarefromChina,roughly6,000Westernersvisitannually,thoughtheUnitedStatesandCanadaadviseagainstit.

Mostarecuriousaboutlifebehindthelastsliveroftheironcurtainandignorecriticswhosaytheirdollarspropuparepressiveregime.

IsolatedNorthKoreaisexpectedtofaceatoughnewU.N.SecurityCouncilresolutiontighteningsanctionsagainstitfollowingitsnucleartestinJanuaryandalong-rangerocketlaunchthismonth.