Detained US student confesses to stealing political slogan

Conservative activists burn an effigy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un[Photo by Yoo Dae-kil ]

A US student held in North Korea has confessed to stealing a propaganda slogan from his hotel, describing his crime as "very severe and pre-planned", Pyongyang's state media said Monday.

Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old student at the University of Virginia, was arrested on January 2 on charges of undermining North Korea's unity under the US government's control.

He was on a five-day tour with other people and was stopped at immigration before being taken away by officials.

"I committed the crime of taking out a political slogan from the staff-only area of the Yanggakdo International Hotel," the North's KCNA news agency quoted Warmbier as telling a news conference in Pyongyang.

Warmbier said an acquaintance who belonged to a church had offered him a used car worth 10,000 US dollars if he could present the church with the slogan as a "trophy", the agency said.

The acquaintance also said the church would pay his mother $200,000 if he was detained in North Korea and did not return, it said.

"My crime is very severe and pre-planned," Warmbier was quoted as saying.

In a video clip, Warmbier was seen sobbing and pleading for forgiveness, CNN reported, adding it was not clear whether he had made the statement voluntarily.

North Korea has detained numerous foreigners, mainly Americans and evangelical Christians. They were sometimes used as leverage to open dialogue with Washington.

아주경제 임장원 기자 = cwlim34@ajunews.com

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com

Detained US student confesses to stealing political slogan

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