Following an “incident” at the Yanggakdo International Hotel, third-year Commerce student Otto Warmbier was detained at the Pyongyang Airport in North Korea on Jan. 2 and taken to a hospital that day, Reuters reports. The reason for his hospital stay remains unclear.
Young Pioneer Tours, or YPT, a China-based travel agency offering tours to North Korea, told Reuters Warmbier had been on a five-day trip to North Korea and was detained at the airport when he attempted to go through customs.
Tour guides and YPT leaders attempted to see Warmbier, but their efforts were unsuccessful.
“Our guide attempted to go back to see him, but was unable to as she had been ushered through immigration by airport staff,” YPT wrote in a blog post.
“YPT CEO Gareth Johnson remained in the country, alone, to try and find out what the situation was as we felt this was the right thing to do,” the company wrote. “It was during this time that it was discovered that there had been an incident. “
Johnson returned to China “when it became apparent that nothing would be achieved in country.”
According to Reuters, Charlotte Guttridge, a YPT tour leader, said the arrest followed an incident at the hotel Warmbier was staying in.
"What happened, happened at the hotel and my belief is that Otto kept it to himself out of hope it might go unnoticed," she told Reuters.
Guttridge said Otto behavior as a “typical tourist” during the five-day trip.
"Throughout the trip, Otto behaved as a typical tourist — taking pictures, enjoying himself. We had no indication that anything untoward had happened until the airport," she said.
YPT has not provided any further details about the incident and cites Warmbier’s best interests for the limited amount of information.
“For many reasons, most specifically the interests of Otto, his family, and ensuring a speedy return home we are extremely limited with regards to what we are able to say about the matter,” the company wrote.
YPT said this incident “is the first incident of its kind” to occur on one of its trips and the company will continue to run tours in North Korea as normal.
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