Rex Tillerson: North Korea Released American Student

On Tuesday, June 13, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced that the North Korean government has released an American student imprisoned in the country. Otto Warmbier had been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for alleged sabotage and acts against the North Korean government. According to the Associated Press, the U.S. government announced this news while former NBA player Dennis Rodman was visiting Pyongyang. In a statement, Tillerson said, "At the direction of the President, the State Department confirms Otto Warmbier's release from North Korea. Mr. Warmbier is en route to the United States to be reunited with his family." The Washington Post reported, citing Warmbier's family, that he was transferred from North Korea in a coma and is expected to join his family in Cincinnati late Tuesday. The report states that he had been in a coma for over a year following his trial, which was publicly broadcast in March 2016. The Associated Press has not yet been able to confirm this information, and Warmbier's family declined to comment on the matter. In the statement by the Secretary of State, delivered during a congressional session on Tuesday morning, no additional information was provided regarding Warmbier's condition or the circumstances of his release, nor was there any mention of Dennis Rodman's visit to Pyongyang. Tillerson noted that out of respect for Warmbier's privacy, he would not provide further details about his condition. However, he reminded that the State Department continues "to engage" with North Korea for the release of three other Americans who are imprisoned there. A North Korean Foreign Ministry official stated that Warmbier has been released and left North Korea on Tuesday morning. The official, who requested anonymity, added that they could not provide further information on the matter. The Associated Press recalls that it is still unclear whether there is a connection between Warmbier's release and Rodman's trip to North Korea. Rodman has previously traveled to North Korea four times and is one of the few individuals to have met both North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump. In an interview with reporters in Beijing before his trip to North Korea, he stated that the issue of several Americans imprisoned in North Korea "is not part of my objectives right now." North Korea's highest court sentenced Otto Warmbier to 15 years of hard labor for sabotage after he tearfully confessed in court to attempting to steal a propaganda poster. The one-hour trial of the 22-year-old University of Virginia student took place in North Korea's Supreme Court. The U.S. government condemned the sentence and accused North Korea of using American prisoners as political pawns. The Supreme Court of North Korea emphasized that Warmbier committed a crime "in line with the U.S. government's policies to create division among the people of that country." Before his trial, Warmbier confessed in a press conference in Pyongyang that he intended to steal a propaganda poster for a friend in America who wanted to hang it in a church. Officials from that church have recently declined to comment on the matter. In that press conference, Warmbier, while crying, told reporters that he had been promised $10,000 in cash for stealing such a poster, and if he were arrested and did not return to America, the church would pay his mother $200,000 in charitable donations. Warmbier stated that he accepted the offer because "his family was suffering from severe financial problems."