Little is known on status of US student held in North Korea
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There's been little public word about what has happened to an American college student detained by North Korea, as a new administration takes over one year later amid deep U.S. concerns about the hostile country's nuclear and missile development.
North Korea announced last Jan. 22 it had detained Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old University of Virginia student from suburban Cincinnati, for alleged anti-state crime. Warmbier was sentenced in March to 15 years in prison at hard labor after a televised public confession to trying to steal a propaganda banner.
A range of U.S. authorities has urged his release on humanitarian grounds.
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The State Department says it continues to actively work for his earliest possible release, calling his punishment "unduly harsh" and that it's clear such detainees are used for political purposes.