Ohio man freed from North Korea dies at 22
WASHINGTON — The death Monday of Otto Warmbier of suburban Cincinnati after a year and a half in a North Korean prison shocked American lawmakers and officials even as analysts said the United States has limited options to retaliate against the Pyongyang regime.
Warmbier’s family announced that the 22-yearold Warmbrier died at 2:20
p.m. Monday, just days after he was returned in a coma to his home in Wyoming, Ohio. Physicians at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center said last week that the University of Virginia student had suffered an extensive loss of brain tissue and was unresponsive.
“We would like to thank the wonderful professionals at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center who did everything they could for Otto,” his parents, Fred and Cindy, said in a statement. “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.”
The family said when Warmbier returned to Cincinnati last week, “He was unable to speak, unable to see and unable to react to verbal commands. He looked very uncomfortable — almost anguished.”
“Although we would never hear his voice again, within a day the countenance of his face changed — he was at peace,” the family said. “He was home, and we believe he could sense that.”
Warmbier had gone to North Korea as a tourist on his way to Hong Kong for a studyabroad program, but he was stopped when he tried to leave the country. After a sham trial, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.
His parents had no news about their son after March of last year until this month, when U.S. officials and the family were told that he had been in a coma for more than a year. Released by the North Koreans, Warmbier was medically evacuated, flown to Cincinnati last Tuesday night and rushed to the hospital.
President Donald Trump said “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.”
But despite such tough words, military and diplomatic analysts say the United States has few options to punish North Korea. Not only does the North Korean regime possess some kind of nuclear weapon, but South Korea’s capital and largest city, Seoul, is just 35 miles from the Demilitarized Zone that has separated the two countries since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
In addition, the United States and the international community have imposed steep economic sanctions on North Korea since it first tested a nuclear weapon a decade ago, and those sanctions have not deterred the regime.
“There are no good options to retaliate in this case,” said Peter Mansoor, the Gen. Raymond E. Mason chairman of military history at Ohio State University and a man who served as executive officer in Iraq to Gen. David Petraeus.
“It’s pretty clear something the North Koreans did to him caused his death,” Mansoor said. “North Korea is already under sanctions for its nuclear program, but clearly we’re not going to take military action in this case. There is nothing we can do except voice our extreme displeasure and get the international community to speak about this.”
Mitchell Lerner, director of the Institute for Korean Studies at Ohio State, said “stepping up sanctions is the best option of a bad lot. If one more American politician says this is China’s problems, my head is going to explode. China is not the answer. China’s
influence in North Korea is very limited.”
“I don’t know what our options are,” said Lerner, author of the 2002 book “The Pueblo Incident,” about the North Korean seizure of a U.S. spy ship in 1968.
“But at the same time, something has to be done,” said Lerner.
One possibility is that Congress or the Trump administration could restrict or ban Americans from traveling to North Korea.
Reps. Adam B. Schiff, D-Calif., 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. There would be no licenses for tourists.
Separately, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has raised the prospect of the administration using an executive order to ban travel to North Korea.
Ohio lawmakers were horrified at the news of Warmbier’s death. “Our hearts are broken for Otto’s family and everyone who knew and loved him,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said Warmbier “was such a promising young man,” while Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Genoa Township, called it “a terrible tragedy.”
Gov. John Kasich said in a statement: “All Ohioans mourn the death of Otto Warmbier, a young
man of exceptional spirit. ... This horrendous situation further underscores the evil, oppressive nature of the North Korean regime that has such disregard for human life.”
Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Upper Arlington, appeared to call for a tough response when he said “North Korea’s record of human rights abuses is concerning, and this behavior cannot be tolerated.”
Former Rep. Tony Hall, D-Dayton, who has visited North Korea eight times, said he was appalled by North Korea’s medical system, which could have made it impossible for Warmbier to receive proper care.
Each time Hall visited North Korea, he asked to see a hospital but quickly discovered how primitive the medical system was. There was no antiseptic. Gauze was rinsed out and reused. No over-thecounter medicines were available. Surgeries were done without pain medication.
So when Hall heard about Warmbier being held by the North Koreans, he thought, “They just don’t have the medical facilities to take care of him.”
“It’s pretty clear something the North Koreans did to him caused his death.”
— Peter Mansoor, the Gen. Raymond E. Mason chairman of military history at Ohio State University