Released student dies
Otto Warmbier, the Ohio student released last week after being held hostage by North Korea for 17 months, has died. Story,
Otto Warmbier, the University of Virginia student who was detained in North Korea for nearly a year and a half, died Monday afternoon, his parents said.
Mr. Warmbier had been medically evacuated and returned to Cincinnati last week in a coma. Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a written statement that they watched their 22-year-old son’s face change, in the days that followed, from anguished to peaceful.
“He was home and we believe he could sense that.”
Mr. Warmbier’s death was mourned by both his wide circle of friends and by complete strangers, and it intensified political reaction to his detention.
President Donald Trump said in a statement Monday: “Otto’s fate deepens my Administration’s determination to prevent such tragedies from befalling innocent people at the hands of regimes that do not respect the rule of law or basic human decency. The United States once again condemns the brutality of the North Korean regime as we mourn its latest victim.”
Mr. Warmbier’s death is seen as having the potential to push Congress or the Trump administration to restrict or ban Americans from traveling to North Korea.
Reps. Adam B. Schiff, DCalif., and Joe Wilson, R-S.C., have introduced the North Korea Travel Control Act in the House, a measure that would require Americans who want to travel to North Korea to obtain a license.
The Senate has been more reluctant to introduce restrictions on Americans — but Mr. Warmbier’s death might be the trigger that they need, analysts say.
Separately, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has raised the prospect of the administration banning travel to North Korea.
On Monday, Mr. Tillerson said the U.S. holds North Korea accountable for Mr. Warmbier’s “unjust imprisonment” and demanded the release of three other “illegally detained” Americans.
Mr. Warmbier had gone to North Korea as a tourist on his way to Hong Kong for a study abroad program, but he was stopped when he tried to leave the country. He later tearfully confessed he tried to steal a propaganda banner. After a sham trial, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.
His parents had no news about their son during his detention after March of last year. He was not allowed consular visits, and it was not until this month that U.S. officials and the family were told that he had been in a coma for more than a year. Hewas medically evacuated, landed in Cincinnati on Tuesday night and was rushed to the hospital.
Pyongyang said Mr. Warmbier fell into a coma after he contracted botulism and took a sleeping pill soon after his sentencing. Yet U.S. doctors have cast doubt on the explanation.
They said that Mr. Warmbier had extensive loss of brain tissue, and was in a state of unresponsive wakefulness.
Former Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico said that he had met with North Korean diplomats 20 times while Mr. Warmbier was held, and that they had never hinted that anything was amiss with Mr. Warmbier’s health.