White House demands North Korea release American student

The United States on Wednesday accused North Korea of jailing an American student for political reasons and called for his immediate release, after Pyongyang sentenced him to 15 years' hard labor for stealing a propaganda sign from a hotel, AFP reports.

Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old student from the University of Virginia, was convicted of subversive activities and sentenced by North Korea's Supreme Court, the North's official KCNA news agency said earlier.