North Korea frees American student in coma Tillerson: Talks on detainees continue
Timinj of Aodman visit apparently coincidental
WASHINGTON — An American college student whose parents say he has been in a coma while serving a 15-year prison term in North Korea was released and evacuated Tuesday as the Trump administration revealed a rare exchange with the reclusive country.
The release of Otto Warmbier, who’s from Ohio, came during a visit to North Korea by former NBA star Dennis Rodman, one of few people to have met both North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump.
Rodman had told reporters before arriving in Pyongyang that the issue of Americans detained by North Korea is “not my purpose right now.”
Securing Warmbier’s release “was a big priority” for President Donald Trump, who worked “very hard and very closely” with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
While North Korea’s move to free Warmbier could potentially provide an opening for talks on security issues, the prospects still appear bleak.
International negotiations on the dispute over North Korea’s nuclear program have been in limbo for years, while the U.S. cranks up economic sanctions and North Korea won’t give up weapons it considers a guarantee against invasion.
The detention of Americans, often sentenced to draconian prison sentences for seemingly small offenses in the totalitarian nation, has compounded tensions between Washington and Pyongyang. Three Americans remain in custody.
Warmbier, a 22-year-old Uni- versity of Virginia undergraduate, was convicted and sentenced in a one-hour trial in North Korea’s Supreme Court in March 2016. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor for subversion after he tearfully confessed that he had tried to steal a propaganda banner.
Warmbier’s parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier of Wyoming, in suburban Cincinnati, said he was in a coma and was flying home. They said they were told he has been in
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday the Department of State is continuing “to have discussions” with North Korea about the release of other three American citizens imprisoned there. They are:
■ Kim Hak Song, who was detained in early May to be investigated for committing unspecified hostile acts.
■ Tony Kim, who also goes by his Korean name Kim Sang-duk, was detained April 22 at the Pyongyang airport.
■ South Korean-born U.S. citizen Kim Dong Chul, who was sentenced in April 2016 to 10 years in prison with hard labor after being convicted of espionage. a coma since his trial, when he was last seen in public, and they had learned of this only one week ago.
“We want the world to know how we and our son have been brutalized and terrorized by the pariah regime” in North Korea, Warmbier’s parents said. “We are so grateful that he will finally be with people who love him.”
It’s unclear if Warmbier’s release during Rodman’s visit was purely coincidental. Rodman has traveled to the isolated nation four times since 2013, attracting a lot of publicity, much of it unfavorable.
Rodman told reporters in Beijing, as he departed for Pyongyang, that he hopes his trip will “open a door” for Trump.