‘Brutal’ N. Korea blasted as recently returned student dies
U.S. Sen. John McCain — who was tortured as a POW in Vietnam — said the North Koreans “murdered” Otto Warmbier, the college kid who died in an Ohio hospital yesterday after falling into a coma as a prisoner in Kim Jong Un’s gulag.
“In the final year of his life, he lived the nightmare in which the North Korean people have been trapped for 70 years: forced labor, mass starvation, systematic cruelty, torture, and murder,” McCain said in a statement.
McCain, 80, added: “Let us state the facts plainly: Otto Warmbier, an American citizen, was murdered by the Kim Jong Un regime.”
President Trump called North Korea a “brutal regime.”
“A lot of bad things happened,” the president added, “but at least we got him home to be with his parents.”
Warmbier’s family announced his death, saying the 22-year-old “has completed his journey home.”
“Unfortunately, the awful, torturous mistreatment our son received at the hands of the North Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced today,” his parents said.
Doctors said he suffered a “severe neurological injury” of unknown cause.
The North Koreans said Warmbier went into a coma after contracting botulism and taking a sleeping pill.
Doctors at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center — where he was pronounced dead at 2:20 p.m. — said they found no active sign of botulism or evidence of beatings. The Trump administration won his release last week. He had been imprisoned in North Korea for more than a year.
He had been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor after being arrested during a trip with Young Pioneer Tours, a China-based tour company. He was arrested on Jan. 2, 2016, in Pyongyang.
He had been a student at the University of Virginia at the time — and was praised for his curiosity and intellect, USA Today reported. He was the salutatorian of his 2013 high school class.
Warmbier was accused of trying to steal a propaganda banner and was convicted of subversion. He was put before North Korean officials and journalists for a televised “confession.”
“I have made the worst mistake of my life!” he exclaimed, choking up as he begged to be allowed to reunite with his parents and two younger siblings.
Doctors said he suffered extensive loss of brain tissue and “profound weakness and contraction” of his muscles, arms and legs. His eyes opened and blinked but without any sign that he understood verbal commands or his surroundings.