Lebanese Ministry of Information
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the death of 22-year-old Otto Warmbier after his lengthy detention in North Korea was a “total disgrace,” and said if the college student had been returned home to the U.S. earlier, “I think the result would have been a lot different.”
Trump said he had spoken with Warmbier’s parents, telling reporters in the Oval Office it was “incredible what they’ve gone through.” Seated next to Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko, Trump said Warmbier “should have been brought home a long time ago.”
“It’s a total disgrace what happened to Otto. That should never ever be allowed to happen,” Trump said. “And frankly if he were brought home sooner I think the result would have been a lot different.”
Trump said he had spoken with Warmbier’s family and praised them as “incredible.”
The Ohio college student died Monday at a Cincinnati hospital, nearly a week after his return to the United States after being held in North Korea for more than 17 months. Warmbier’s parents have not cited a specific cause of death, but pointed to “awful, torturous mistreatment” by North Korea.
Doctors had described Warmbier’s condition as a state of “unresponsive wakefulness” and said he suffered a “severe neurological injury” of unknown cause.
The University of Virginia student was accused of trying to steal a propaganda banner while visiting with a tour group and was convicted of subversion. He was sentenced in March 2016 to 15 years in prison with hard labor.
Relatives have said U.S. envoys told them North Korean officials said Warmbier contracted botulism after his trial and became comatose after taking a sleeping pill. Fred Warmbier, the student’s father, has said he does not believe this account.
North Korea said they released Warmbier last week on “humanitarian grounds.”
The government of China, North Korea’s main ally, said Warmbier’s death was a tragedy.
The United States, South Korea and others have accused North Korea of using foreign detainees as hostages to secure diplomatic concessions. Three Americans remain in custody in the North.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson repeated demands that North Korea release three other U.S. citizens it holds in detention: missionary Kim Dong Chul and academics Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song.
Sen. John McCain said Tuesday that Americans who are “stupid” enough to still want to travel to North Korea should be required to sign a waiver absolving the U.S. government of any blame should they be harmed while there.
McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said North Korea “murdered” Warmbier.
“They just murdered him,” McCain said.
“There should at least be a form for them to fill out that says, ‘If I go to North Korea, I understand I am taking great risk and I do not hold the American government responsible. Now I hope the American government will help, etc., etc. But I realize what has happened to previous American citizens, including their deaths,’” McCain, R-Ariz., said in a brief interview.
“I would have that first because if people are that stupid that they still want to go to that country then at least they assume the responsibility for their welfare,” McCain said.
Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said the U.S. should think about banning U.S. citizens from visiting North Korea.
“I think we should strongly consider it,” Corker said. “It puts us in a really precarious situation when Americans are detained there.”
“It’s unsafe,” Corker said, adding that the “trumped-up charges” like those Warmbier was accused of “can continue to happen.”
