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Otto Warmbier was crowned Wyoming Homecoming King in 2012(Photo: Provided)
North Korea said Friday it arrested an American student from the University of Virginia for allegedly "perpetrating a hostile act"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>against the regime.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency, in a one-sentence dispatch, said only that<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the 21-year-old student, identified as Otto Frederick Warmbier, traveled to the country<span style="color: Red;">*</span>as a tourist but with the real aim of destroying<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the unity of North Korea with<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"the tacit connivance of the U.S. government."
North Korea said Warmbier was acting under "the U.S. government's acquiescence and control,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>South Korea's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Yonhap news agency reported.
The State Department said it was aware of the reports that a U.S. citizen was detained in North Korea.
"The welfare of U.S. citizens is one of the Department’s highest priorities," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said in a statement. "We have no further information to share due to privacy considerations."
The U.S. Embassy in Seoul also said it was aware of reports of the student's arrest,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>CNN reported. The U.S. has no diplomatic relations with North Korea and its interests are handled by the Swedish Embassy, which<span style="color: Red;">*</span>acts as the protecting interest for U.S citizens.
The Young Pioneer Tour group, a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>China-based company that arranges<span style="color: Red;">*</span>travel<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to North Korea, confirmed Warmbier's detention<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and said it was trying to address the situation<span style="color: Red;">*</span>through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"We can confirm that the reports that one of our clients is being detained in Pyongyang are true," the tour group said on its website.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"Their family have been informed and we are in contact with the Swedish Embassy, who are working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to address the case."
The tour group, which referred to the student only as "Otto," said it was "also assisting the U.S Department of State closely with regards to the situation" and asked that the privacy of the student and his family be respected.
"We hope his release can be secured as soon as possible," the group added.
Warmbier is a third-year Commerce student at the University of Virginia,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>according to The Cavalier Daily, the school newspaper.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>On his purported<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Facebook page, Warmbier notes his<span style="color: Red;">*</span>passion for "worldly travels" and says he visited Cuba in May.
Warmbier graduated from<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Wyoming High School, in suburban Cincinnati, as<span style="color: Red;">*</span>salutatorian in 2013, said Susanna Max, spokesperson for Wyoming City Schools, the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Cincinnati Enquirer<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reported. The school is meeting with the Warmbier family this<span style="color: Red;">*</span>morning to form an "action plan" and will release a statement later Friday, she said.
Warmbier was a gifted<span style="color: Red;">*</span>soccer player at the high school,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said Wyoming head coach<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Steve Thomas.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"He's a great kid, really smart," Thomas said. "He was an outstanding player and student and a good leader on and off the field."
Thomas was surprised to hear the news of Warmbier's arrest. The coach hasn't seen Warmbier in the last year or two, but after graduation, he did return to his alma mater to play alumni soccer games.
"This is really shocking news," Thomas said. "I have no idea why he would be over there. I certainly hope he is alright."
Warmbier's detention comes as the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the U.N. Security Council is working on a tough sanctions resolution<span style="color: Red;">*</span>against North Korea in response to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Pyongyang's nuclear test earlier this month.
Earlier this month, CNN reported 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 accused him of engaging in spying and stealing state secrets.
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.
Contributing: The Cincinnati Enquirer
A picture released by the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the ruling North Korean Workers Party, on Sept. 8, 2015, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center front, and Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, second from right, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and first vice-president of the Council of State, watching an art performance by the Moranbong Band and the State Merited Chorus in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Sept. 7, 2015. Bermudez led a Cuban delegation to North Korea to mark the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between North Korea and Cuba. <span style="color: Red;">*</span> Rodong Sinmun, European Pressphoto Agency
Men and women pump their fists in the air and chant "defend!" as they carry propaganda slogans calling for reunification of their country during the "Pyongyang Mass Rally on the Day of the Struggle Against the U.S.," attended by approximately 100,000 North Koreans to mark the 65th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War at the Kim Il Sung stadium, Thursday, June 25, 2015, in Pyongyang, North Korea. The month of June in North Korea is known as the "Struggle Against U.S. Imperialism Month" and it's a time for North Koreans to swarm to war museums, mobilize for gatherings denouncing the evils of the United States and join in a general, nationwide whipping up of the anti-American sentiment.<span style="color: Red;">*</span> Wong Maye-E, AP
North Koreans gather in front of a portrait of their late leader Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il, right, paying respects to their late leader Kim Jong Il, to mark the third anniversary of his death, Wednesday Dec. 17 at Pyong Chon District in Pyongyang, North Korea. North Korea marked the end of a three-year mourning period for the late leader Kim Jong Il on Wednesday, opening the way for his son, Kim Jong Un, to put a more personal stamp on the way the country is run. <span style="color: Red;">*</span> Kim Kwang Hyon, AP
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