Trump: Freed North Korea coma student’s death a ‘total disgrace’
● US President hints Obama administration to blame for delay
US President Donald Trump said the death of a 22-year-old student after a long detention in North Korea was a “total disgrace.”
President Trump said he had spoken with Otto Warmbier’s parents, telling reporters in the Oval Office it was “incredible what they’ve gone through.”
“It’s a total disgrace what happened to Otto. That should never ever be allowed to happen,” Mr Trump said.
“And frankly if he were brought home sooner I think the result would have been a lot different.”
The Ohio college student died on Monday at a Cincinhis nati hospital, nearly a week after his return to the United States after being held in North Korea for more than 17 months.
Warmbier’s parents have not cited a specific cause of death, but pointed to “awful, torturous mistreatment” by North Korea.
Doctors have described Warmbier’s condition as a state of “unresponsive wakefulness” and said he suffered a “severe neurological injury” of unknown cause.
The University of Virginia student was accused of trying to steal a propaganda banner while visiting with a tour group and was convicted of subversion. He was sentenced in March 2016 to 15 years in prison with hard labour.
A coroner’s office in Ohio is investigating the death.
The spokesman for Hamilton County Coroner Dr Lakshmi Sammaraco said the office “accepted the case” of Mr Warmbier.
North Korea must bear “heavy responsibility” for Warmbier’s death, said South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
He said that while it is not known for sure what happened, there can be speculation that North Korea made “unjust and cruel treatments” to Mr Warmbier. Mr Warmbier was put before North Korean officials and journalists for a televised “confession”. “I have made the worst mistake of my life,” he said, choking up as he begged to be allowed to be reunited with his parents and two younger siblings.
His family said it was told he had been in a coma since soon after his sentencing.
Doctors said he suffered extensive loss of brain tissue and “profound weakness and contraction” of his muscles, arms and legs.
eyes opened and blinked but without any sign he understood verbal commands or his surroundings.
North Korea said Mr Warmbier went into a coma after contracting botulism and taking a sleeping pill.
Doctors in Cincinnati said they found no active sign of botulism or evidence of beatings.
In an earlier White House statement, President Trump said: “A lot of bad things happened, but at least we got him home to be with his parents.”
He called North Korea a “brutal regime.”
Mr Warmbier had planned to study in China in his third year of college and heard about Chinese travel companies offering trips to North Korea. He was leaving North Korea on 2 January, 2016, when he was detained at the airport.
The organisers of the trips say they will no longer take US citizens to the country.