The Chinese travel company that arranged a tour to North Korea for an American student who was jailed and injured there specializes in “destinations your mother would rather you stay away from,” according to its website.

Young Pioneer Tours, based in Xi'an, China, describes itself as “safe and fun.” Photos from the tour company’s website and Facebook page show selfies of happy, smiling, young Westerners in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.



Fred Warmbier, the father of Otto Warmbier, 22, who is in a coma after suffering neurological damage while being detained in North Korea, excoriated the tour company in a press conference Thursday.

“They advertise it as the safest trip ever, but what they do is they provide fodder for the North Koreans,” Fred Warmbier told reporters gathered at Wyoming High School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The tour company encourages North Americans to visit countries that should be considered dangerous, he said, adding that detained North Americans can be used by North Korea as political leverage.

North Korea trips

Young Pioneer Tours boasts on its website: “Tourism is very welcomed in North Korea, thus tourists are cherished and well-taken care of. We have never felt suspicious or threatened at any time."

Otto Warmbier was detained in January 2016 while on a Young Pioneers “budget” tour. He was accused and convicted of trying to steal a propaganda banner, and was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in a North Korean prison. Upon Otto Warmbier's release earlier this week, his parents said that they were told he had been in a coma for much of his 17-month detention.

He arrived in Ohio late Tuesday, and is listed in stable condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Fred Warmbier said his son was “terrorized” and “brutalized” by the North Korean government, who said Otto Warmbier slipped into a coma the day after his arrest.

Fred Warmbier said his son is a “thrill-seeking good kid” who convinced them to let him go when he told them his friends had taken a tour to North Korea.

In addition to Pyongyang, Young Pioneer Tours offers tours to Antarctica; Chernobyl, Ukraine; Afghanistan, and Eritrea. The U.S. government has issued travel warnings to the last three locations.


On their website, Young Pioneer Tours assures prospective tourists that they will be completely safe during their travels through North Korea, or the DPRK.

“Despite what you may hear, North Korea is probably one of the safest places on Earth to visit,” the website says.

Tour company history

The tour company receives five-star ratings on their Facebook page and review sites, such as TripAdvisor. But a few reported uncomfortable experiences.
One user said that she and her husband had a “horrible experience.” She said a friend of a Young Pioneers Tour guide withheld her husband’s passport as a joke while the group rode a train from Pyongyang to Beijing. When the couple was unable to produce travel documents, DPRK soldiers separated and interrogated the couple.

“The soldiers took it very seriously and gave us a very hard time, speaking sternly to us about our missing travel document,” she wrote in the review. “They proceeded to segregate my husband, prohibit me to approach or even to talk to him.”

Others on Young Pioneers tours reported similar disorganization and confusion.

During one user’s trip on the Transnistria tour, they said they had to crawl through narrow tunnels littered with human waste and to walk 30 minutes through subzero temperatures.

“Despite my low expectations, this trip was incredibly disappointing and frustrating,” the user wrote. “And the problems with the trip were not attributable to the location. They were entirely due to the tour company and tour leader.”

VOA made numerous attempts by phone to contact Young Pioneers Tours in China and emailed their offices in Cuba, Kazhakstan and Senegal.

An automatically generated email returned from Matt Kulesza said he was "currently on tour with limited access to the Internet. I'll be returning to Beijing on Tuesday, June 27th and will respond to your email upon my return."

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Ruth Chane, a computer science major from Ethiopia, writes about her experiences settling into student life at Whitman College in the U.S. state of Washington.

"The community at Whitman College made sure I felt welcomed even before I stepped foot on campus," she says.

Read her essay here.

In The Student Life, the student newspaper for the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five liberal art colleges and two graduate schools in Claremont, California, student Rochelle Lu writes about readjusting to her Shanghai home after spending a semester in the United States.

Read the full story here.

Cedarville University in the U.S. state of Ohio says it’s got more than 140 international students representing 44 countries.

Here, the school interviews Jonathan Sutton, director of international student services. He talks about his job and the opportunities for international students on campus.

Read the full article here.

Morehouse College, a private, historically Black liberal arts college in the U.S. state of Georgia, offers a guide for international students interested in attending the school.

Among the tips to apply and thrive at Morehouse:

• Take advantage of the school’s orientation program
• Turn to the school’s Center for Academic Success for tutoring, support and more
• Immerse yourself in campus life via clubs and societies

Read the full article here.

WASHINGTON — 

The administration of President Donald Trump said on Monday it will review Columbia University's federal contracts and grants over allegations of antisemitism, which it says the educational institution has shown inaction in tackling.

Rights advocates note rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias since U.S. ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Hamas militants' deadly October 2023 attack.

The Justice Department said a month ago it formed a task force to fight antisemitism. The U.S. Departments of Health and Education and the General Services Administration jointly made the review announcement on Monday.

"The Federal Government's Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is considering Stop Work Orders for $51.4 million in contracts between Columbia University and the Federal Government," the joint statement said.

The agencies said no contracting actions had been taken yet.

"The task force will also conduct a comprehensive review of the more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia University."

The agencies did not respond to requests for comment on whether there were similar reviews over allegations of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias.

Columbia had no immediate comment. It previously said it made efforts to tackle antisemitism.

College protests

Trump has signed an executive order to combat antisemitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests.

Columbia was at the center of college protests in which demonstrators demanded an end to U.S. support for Israel due to the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's assault on Gaza. There were allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia in protests and counter-protests.

During last summer's demonstrations around the country, classes were canceled, some university administrators resigned and student protesters were suspended and arrested.

While the intensity of protests has decreased in recent months, there were some demonstrations last week in New York after the expulsion of two students at Columbia University-affiliated Barnard College and after New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the removal of a Palestinian studies job listing at Hunter College.

A third student at Barnard College has since been expelled, this one related to the occupation of the Hamilton Hall building at Columbia last year.