Trump blames North Korea’s ‘brutal regime’ for student’s death

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump denounced the death on Monday (June 19) of Otto Warmbier, the University of Virginia student who spent more than a year imprisoned in North Korea, as the consequence of mistreatment by a “brutal regime”.

“At least he got home to his parents,” the president said on Monday during an event with technology CEOs at the White House, speaking just hours after Warmbier died.

The 22-year-old student’s death potentially escalates already high tensions between the US and North Korea over the pariah state’s push to secure a nuclear-armed missile capable of threatening the US.

Warmbier’s fate has brought home the cruelty and capriciousness of the North Korean regime in a way that dozens of ballistic missile tests and nuclear explosions never did. Arrested for trying to steal a political banner, Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour, a punishment that seemed grossly out of balance with the alleged crime.

“We hold North Korea accountable for Otto Warmbier’s unjust imprisonment, and demand the release of three other Americans who have been illegally detained,” US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement.

Trump’s Cabinet describes North Korea as the biggest threat the US faces. While officials have reacted to past provocations with alarm and warn that the US will consider “all options” in response to the North’s defiance, they’ve focused on nonmilitary actions so far, such as enlisting China’s help to tighten the screws on the country.

FUTURE FALLOUT

The captivity and death of an American college student may now change the US calculus. At the least, Mr Trump’s administration may use it to further pressure China and Russia to try and rein in Pyongyang.

Warmbier, who was returned to the US last week, had reportedly been in a coma since March 2016. Doctors described his condition as a state of “unresponsive wakefulness” and said he suffered a “severe neurological injury” of unknown cause while in North Korean custody.

In a statement issued shortly after his public remarks, Mr Trump said that he extended his “deepest condolences” to the Warmbier family.

“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,” Mr Trump said. “The United States once again condemns the brutality of the North Korean regime as we mourn its latest victim.”

TRUMP INVOLVED

Warmbier, who was visiting North Korea as part of a student tour, was released some 17 months after he was first detained. His return was celebrated by the Trump administration as evidence of successful diplomacy. The White House has described the president as personally involved in securing his release.

In a statement, the Warmbier family thanked the medical team that treated his son and those who had offered their thoughts and prayers.

“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 statement said.

Senator Rob Portman, the Republican who represents Warmbier’s home state of Ohio, said the student had “a bright future ahead of him”.

“His passing today is a loss for Ohio and for all of us,” the senator said in a statement. BLOOMBERG