Just hours after Otto Warmbier was pronounced dead at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, President Donald Trump released a statement and claimed that the University of Virgina student was yet another victim of North Korea's "brutal regime." The 22-year old student was previously detained by North Korean authorities last year and was then sentenced to 15 years hard labor after having been found guilty of stealing a political propaganda poster inside his hotel.
Denouncing his death
During an event involving tech CEOs at the White House, President Trump publicly denounced the death of Warmbier but was somewhat thankful that he was still able to make it home to his parents.
The President has been personally involved in the efforts to have the student returned to the United States. Given that fact, Warmbeir's sudden death could cause additional tension in the already fragile situation concerning North Korea's continued pursuit of being a nuclear-armed nation with weapons capable of hitting the United States.
After expressing his "deepest condolences" to Warmbier's family, the president had some choice words for the North Korean regime. Trump outright condemned the country for being disrespectful to the Rule Of Law and basic human decency. Trump also mentioned that the United States is fully against the brutality of the regime.
Escalating tensions
According to experts, the death of Warmbier will only be making it difficult to move forward with negotiations seeing as that North Korea still holds three other prisoners.
Aside from American prisoners, DPRK authorities still have six South Korean nationals and one Canadian citizen under their custody. South Korea and Canada, along with the United States, has been fighting to regain the prisoners into their respective countries, but North Korea is still adamant in enforcing its own laws and punishments.
Mysterious circumstances
According to Secretary of State Rex Tillerman, Warmbier was finally released to US custody after an intervention by President Trump. However, the student was discovered to have been in a coma since March of last year, which likely occurred shortly after he was sentenced.
The student was then flown into the country and admitted to a hospital.
Doctors were unable to determine the cause of the coma, but they have revealed that Warmbier has suffered "severe neurological injury," which has caused a state of "unresponsive wakefulness." North Korea claims that the coma was caused by botulism and a cocktail of unidentified sleeping medication. However, doctors in the US believe that Warmbier never had botulism. The specific cause of his death remains unknown.