Warmbier’s death resonates amid historic diplomacy
CINCINNATI — Otto Warmbier’s legacy is still being written a year after his death.
The 22-year-old U.S. college student who died in a vegetative state in a Cincinnati hospital days after his release from North Korea is being remembered prominently during a dramatic shift in U.s.-north Korean relations.
President Donald Trump said the death of the “very special person” galvanized determination to deal with North Korea, leading to his history-making summit this month with Kim Jong Un. Trump said in Singapore that Warmbier “did not die in vain.”
Parents Fred and Cindy Warmbier, of suburban Cincinnati, expressed appreciation for Trump’s comments and have said they hope “something positive” comes from the summit. “We are proud of Otto and miss him,” their statement said.
Otto’s parents “are trying to take their grief and channel it into very constructive ways” to raise awareness of human rights in North Korea and of “violations that occurred there, including against their own son,” U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, a Cincinnati-area Republican who has kept in touch with the family since their ordeal began, told reporters this month.
The Warmbiers have spoken out repeatedly about North Korea’s treatment of Otto during his 17plus months of captivity and filed a wrongful death lawsuit against North Korea in April, saying its government tortured and killed their son.
During a United Nations symposium in May, Cindy Warmbier said that the family will keep speaking out about human rights violations to publicly “rub their noses in this.”
Portman said the Warmbiers are happy for the families of three American detainees North Korea freed ahead of the summit.
“Of course, we all wish that Otto had been one of them,” Portman said.