US Student Caught Stealing Propaganda in North Korea

US Student Caught Stealing Propaganda in North Korea

Mr Warmbier, a 21-year-old University of Virginia student, had been on a tourist trip to North Korea in January.

US student, Otto Warmbier, who was arrested in North Korea for stealing a piece of propaganda from a hotel has appeared on state media admitting theft. He was arrested on 2 January as he was about to leave.

In his first appearance since his arrest last month, an emotional Otto Warmbier said he was asked by a US church to bring back the “trophy”.

At the time, North Korea said the US government had “tolerated and manipulated” him. He was charged with committing a “hostile act”.

At a news conference in Pyongyang, Mr Warmbier said a member of the Friendship United Methodist Church had promised to give him a used car worth $10,000 (£7,200) if he brought back a propaganda sign from his North Korea trip.

“I committed the crime of taking down a political slogan from the staff holding area of the Yanggakdo International Hotel,” North Korea’s KCNA news agency quoted him as saying.

“The aim of my task was to harm the motivation and work ethic of the Korean people. This was a very foolish aim,” he was quoted as saying.

He said his crime was “very severe and pre-planned” and that he “never should have allowed myself to be lured by the United States administration to commit a crime in this country”.

CNN, which received a copy of the video, said he sobbed as he begged for forgiveness, saying he had made “the worst mistake of my life”.

It was not clear whether he had made the statement voluntarily, but foreign detainees in North Korea have previously recanted confessions, saying they were made under pressure.

The US state department strongly advises Americans against travelling to North Korea, which sometimes uses the detention of foreigners as a means of exerting pressure on its adversaries.