• North Korea confirmed the detention of the American citizen for the first time

• Pyongyang has blamed the man for acts of hostility aimed at overthrowing the country

• While House official has said North Korea could use nuclear weapons as blackmail

WASHINGTON, U.S. – In a first of such acknowledgements, North Korea has confirmed the detention of an American citizen for alleged acts of hostility aimed at overthrowing the country.

According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, officials “intercepted” Kim Sang-Duk at the Pyongyang International Airport on April 22 – “committing criminal acts of hostility aimed to overturn the (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) not only in the past but also during his last stay before interception.”

KCNA has also noted in its report detained Sang-Duk and are conducting a detailed investigation into his alleged crime.

The report noted that Kim had been invited to Pyongyang University of Science and Technology to teach accounting.

Kim’s detention was earlier confirmed by ‘The school’s chancellor and the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang.

However, the reason for his arrest wasn’t known.

Soon after Kim’s detention, reports had revealed that two other Americans, identified as Kim Dong Chul, a businessman born in South Korea with U.S. citizenship and Otto Warmer were also being detained in North Korea since 2015.

Chul is currently serving a sentence of 10 years for espionage.

Further, one report noted that a 21-year-old University of Virginia student from suburban Cincinnati, Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in prison.

He had confessed to trying to steal a propaganda banner from a hotel.
After Trump suggested this week, that he would be willing and honoured to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Warmbier’s parents have stated that they hoped President Donald Trump would be able to ensure their son’s release.

The detained student’s mother, Cindy Warmbier, said, “Our hope is that he’s coming home. There seems to be a tension now placed on things that were ignored before, so I can’t imagine this isn’t good for our country, but more importantly, good for Otto. He’s a 22-year-old college student who has never been in trouble. This seems to be bigger than anything he was accused of doing.”

The confirmation of Kim’s detention comes at a time when relations between the U.S. and North Korea are tense due to constant threats of war.
Earlier last month, Gary Locke, a former U.S. ambassador to China said that North Korea was detaining Americans to get as many “bargaining chips” as possible for future negotiations.

Meanwhile, a White House official has now said that North Korea’s nuclear weapons development could be used as “blackmail” to pressure the U.S. to abandon its ally in South Korea.

The official believed this would make it easier for Pyongyang to overtake its archrival.

According to Matt Pottinger, the Asia director on President Trump’s National Security Council, “They have made no secret in conversations they have had with former American officials, for example, and others that they want to use these weapons as an instrument of blackmail to achieve other goals, even including perhaps coercive reunification of the Korean Peninsula one day.”

At a conference in Washington, Pottinger further added that North Korea also wants the U.S. “to leave the peninsula and abandon our alliances.”

While he reiterated that the U.S. is not seeking a regime change in North Korea, he pointed out that the U.S. wants the North to end its nuclear weapons program.

Adding, “We really have no choice but to increase pressure on North Korea to diplomatically isolate them, to bring a greater economic pain to bear until they are willing to make concrete steps to start reducing that threat.”

Earlier this week, Trump had described Kim Jong Un as a “pretty smart cookie” and expressed that he would be honoured to meet with the dictator under the right circumstances.