When the Young Pioneer Tours group visited Pyongyang in North Korea, Otto Warmbier, 22, and Danny Gratton were the only single people and were paired up, sharing a hotel room. Gratton was interviewed by Inside Edition and he says he believes Otto was wrongfully arrested as they went to board the plane home to the U.S.

Warmbier was accused by North Korean authorities of stealing a propaganda poster from a wall in the hotel the group was staying in and was sentenced to hard labor in prison in 2016. He was this week sent home from North Korea in a coma and doctors have said he has suffered a severe neurological injury and is unlikely to recover.

Video surfaces showing man removing the poster

A video of the alleged incident shows a man ripping the poster from the hotel wall, but many believe the person in that video is not Warmbier at all. This includes Gratton, a British man who said Otto just wasn't that kind of person. He told Inside Edition that the man he knew for the three or four days of that trip wouldn’t have done it and that the person pictured in the video doesn’t look like Warmbier at all.

As noted by The News Virginian Gratton said he and Warmbier shared a room and the student didn’t say anything about stealing the poster and said they had bought souvenirs of their visit to North Korea.

Roommate joked when Otto Warmbier was arrested

He went on to speak about Warmbier’s arrest at Pyongyang Airport, saying a guard came up and tapped Otto on the shoulder as they were about to board their plane. Gratton said nothing was said to Warmbier by the guard. Assuming it was a routine check, Gratton joked with his friend, almost laughing as he told him they might not see him again.

He never realized until later the irony of his words. Gratton also said he had never been contacted by the U.S. Government about Otto's arrest.

North Korea Tour 'extremely safe'

Young Pioneer Tours have claimed that a tour to North Korea is “extremely safe” and their website tells visitors that tourists are well taken care of in the country and even “cherished.” However, their motto for the tour is that North Korea is a destination mother would want their children to stay away from.

The company is now coming under fire for what happened to Warmbier while on one of their "extremely safe" tours.

Doctors still investigating cause of Otto Warmbier’s coma

When Warmbier was released home in a coma, officials in North Korean claimed he was suffering from botulism combined with the effects of a sleeping pill, but U.S. doctors have already ruled out that claim. However they do not believe Otto was beaten while in the Pyongyang prison. Medical experts continue to investigate just how the young University of Virginia student came to end up in a coma, but do not expect Warmbier to ever truly recover.
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