A US student held in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) since early January was detained for trying to steal an item bearing a propaganda slogan from his Pyongyang hotel and has confessed to "severe crimes" against the state, the DPRK's official media said on February 29.
Otto Warmbier, 21, a University of Virginia student, was detained before boarding his flight to China over an unspecified incident at his hotel, his tour agency told Reuters in January.
"I committed the crime of taking out a political slogan from the staff-only area of the Yanggakdo International Hotel," the DPRK's KCNA news agency quoted Warmbier as telling media in Pyongyang. It did not say what the item was.
CNN showed video of a sobbing Warmbier saying: "I have made the worst mistake of my life, but please act to save me."
Warmbier said a "deaconess" had offered him a used car worth US$10,000 if he could present a US church with the slogan as a "trophy" from the DPRK, KCNA said.
The acquaintance also said the church would pay his mother US$200,000 if he was detained by the DPRK and did not return, KCNA quoted Warmbier as saying.
The White House said on February 29 it was aware of Warmbier's situation and was working closely with Sweden, the United States' protecting power in the DPRK, to learn as much as it can about Warmbier's detention.
"There's no greater priority for the administration than the welfare and safety of US citizens abroad," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a daily briefing.
Warmbier's parents have not heard from him since his arrest, according to a statement from his family provided by the University of Virginia.
"I hope the fact that he has conveyed his sincere apology for anything that he may have done wrong will now make it possible for the DPRK authorities to allow him to return home," the statement said.
