<P> He was a brother of the Theta Chi fraternity . Warmbier's mother was Jewish, and he was active in the Hillel Jewish campus organization at the University of Virginia . He had visited Israel in a Birthright Israel heritage trip for young Jewish adults . </P> <P> In May 2017 the Washington Post interviewed some of Warmbier's college friends, who described him, according to the paper, as a "sports fan who can reel off stats about seemingly any team, a friendly Midwesterner who can break down underground rap lyrics (and craft some of his own), a deep thinker who would challenge himself and others to question their place in the world, a guy from an entrepreneurial family who ate half - price sushi, an insatiably curious person with a strong work ethic and a delight in the ridiculous ." </P> <P> Fred Warmbier stated that his son Otto was traveling in China at the end of 2015 when he saw a company offering trips to North Korea . He decided to go because he was adventurous, according to his father . The senior Warmbier said that the China - based tour operator, Young Pioneer Tours, appealed to young Westerners with slogans such as "This is the trip your parents don't want you to take!" and advertised the trip as safe for U.S. citizens . </P> <P> Warmbier traveled to North Korea for a five - day New Year's tour of the country organized by Young Pioneer Tours . Ten other U.S. citizens were in his tour group . The tour group celebrated New Year's Eve by carousing in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square before returning to their accommodations at the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where they continued drinking alcohol . Early in the morning of New Year's Day, Warmbier allegedly tried to steal a propaganda poster from a staff - only area of the hotel . The poster stated, "Let's arm ourselves strongly with Kim Jong - il's patriotism!" Harming or stealing such items with the name or image of a North Korean leader is considered a serious crime by the North Korean government . </P>

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