Otto Warmbier and North Korea

Otto Frederick Warmbier was born in the United States on December 12, 1994. In 2016, he was charged with subversion and sent to prison in North Korea. In June 2017, North Korea let him go, but he was barely alive as he was in coma. He died soon after he was returned to the United States.

Early Life

Otto Warmbier was born in Ohio, in the city of Cincinnati. He went to Wyoming High School, he was a popular student and also excelled in his studies. In 2013, he graduated as the school's salutatorian.

After that, he went to the University of Virginia to get a double major in business and economics. He also spent a semester abroad at the London School of Economics as an exchange student.

Visit To North Korea

Otto Warmbier was supposed to study abroad in Hong Kong in the beginning of 2016, but he decided to stop in North Korea over the New Year holiday. He booked a tour of North Korea with Young Pioneer Tours, a cheap tour company whose slogan was "destinations your mother would rather you stay away from."

Fred Warmbier, Otto's father, said that Young Pioneer advertised the trip as safe for U.S. citizens and that Otto wanted to meet the people of North Korea because he was interested in their culture.

On December 29, 2015, Warmbier and ten other Americans went on a five-day New Year's tour to North Korea. They flew there through Beijing.

On New Year's Eve, the tour group had a party in Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung Square. When they went back to the Yanggakdo International Hotel, some of them kept drinking alcohol.

Arrest In North Korea

While waiting to leave North Korea on January 2, 2016, Warmbier was arrested at Pyongyang International Airport. No words were spoken. Two guards walked up to Otto, tapped him on the shoulder, and then led him away. He kind of gave a half-smile.

Six weeks went by before North Korea said anything about what he had done wrong. Warmbier told reporters at a press conference on February 29, 2016, that he had tried to steal a propaganda poster from a staff-only area on the second floor of the Yanggakdo Hotel so he could take it home.

The poster had the inscription, "Let's arm ourselves strongly with Kim Jong-il's patriotism!" The North Korean government views stealing or damaging such things bearing the name or likeness of a North Korean leader as a criminal offense.

Trial and Conviction

On March 16, 2016, a few hours after two North Korean diplomats from the UN office met with U.S. envoy Bill Richardson in New York to press for Warmbier's release.

At the Supreme Court of North Korea, Warmbier was tried and found guilty. He was found guilty of subversion. His confession, security camera footage, fingerprint evidence, and witness testimony were all presented as evidence throughout the hour-long trial.

Warmbier received a 15-year sentence of hard labor.

Release

Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, reported that North Korea has freed Warmbier on June 13, 2017. Soon after being sentenced, Warmbier became ill with food-borne botulism and later took a sleeping pill that caused him to lose consciousness.

Warmbier was sent to Cincinnati after spending 17 months in custody.

North Korean medical documents revealed that Warmbier had been in this condition since April 2016, which was one month after his sentence.

Death

Brain scans conducted by Warmbier's medical team in America found significant loss of brain tissue throughout the entire brain, which is consistent with a cardiopulmonary incident that resulted in oxygen deprivation of the brain.

The cardiac arrest's origin is unknown, although doctors speculate that a respiratory arrest may have caused it. A neurointensive care specialist at the hospital claimed there was no evidence that botulism was responsible.

His doctors did not discover any signs of physical abuse or torture.

Warmbier, who was 22 years old, passed away in the hospital at 2:20 PM on June 19, 2017, after his parents asked that his feeding tube be taken out.