Otto Frederick Warmbier was an American university student who, while visiting North Korea as a tourist in January 2016, was arrested and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with hard labor after being convicted for attempted theft of a propaganda poster from his hotel.
Otto Warmbier was born on December 12, 1994, the eldest of three children of Fred and Cindy Warmbier, and was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Warmbier graduated from Wyoming High School in 2013 as salutatorian, the second-highest ranking student in his class. He was considered popular and studious, and played on the soccer team. His coach said he was a gifted player and a natural leader.
Fred Warmbier stated that his son Otto, en route to Hong Kong to complete a study abroad program, was traveling in China at the end of 2015 when he saw a company offering trips to North Korea. He decided to go because he was adventurous, according to his father. The senior Warmbier said that the China-based tour operator, Young Pioneer Tours, appealed to young Westerners with slogans such as “This is the trip your parents don’t want you to take!” and advertised the trip as safe for U.S. citizens.
The tour group celebrated New Year’s Eve by carousing in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square before returning to their accommodations at the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where they continued drinking alcohol. Early in the morning of New Year’s Day, Warmbier allegedly tried to steal a propaganda poster from a staff-only area of the hotel. The poster stated, “Let’s arm ourselves strongly with Kim Jong-il’s patriotism!” Harming or stealing such items with the name or image of a North Korean leader is considered a serious crime by the North Korean government.
On January 2, 2016, Warmbier was arrested at Pyongyang International Airport just prior to departing North Korea. Danny Gratton, a British member of Warmbier’s tour group, witnessed the arrest.
In a press conference on February 29, 2016, Warmbier, reading from a prepared statement, confessed that he had attempted to steal a propaganda poster from a restricted staff-only area of the second floor of the Yanggakdo Hotel to take back to the United States. It is not known whether the confession was forced, as Warmbier never regained consciousness after his return to the U.S. However, various sources, including Gratton, stated that he was clearly under duress.
Fred Warmbier and his wife met with numerous Obama administration officials, including former Secretary of State John Kerry, and with the Swedish ambassador, who served as an interlocutor between the U.S. and North Korea.
On June 12, 2017, Rex Tillerson, the United States Secretary of State, announced that North Korea had released Warmbier. Tillerson also announced that the U.S. State Department secured Warmbier’s release at the direction of President Donald Trump.
After 17 months in prison, Warmbier, in a comatose state, was medically evacuated to Cincinnati, Ohio, arriving in the evening of June 13, 2017. He was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where doctors tried to determine what caused his coma and if there were signs of recovery.
Warmbier’s physicians at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center stated that he was in “a state of unresponsive wakefulness,” a condition commonly known aspersistent vegetative state. He was able to breathe on his own and blink his eyes, but otherwise showed no signs of awareness of his environment, such as understanding language, nor did he initiate any purposeful movements.
Warmbier died in the hospital at 2:20 p.m. on June 19, 2017, at the age of 22. His family issued a statement expressing their sadness, thanking the hospital staff for their actions.
President Trump issued a statement regarding Warmbier’s death: “There is nothing more tragic for a parent than to lose a child in the prime of life. Our thoughts and prayers are with Otto’s family and friends, and all who loved him.”
A funeral for Warmbier was held on June 22 at Wyoming High School, with more than 2,500 mourners attending. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Glendale, Ohio, and students tied ribbons on every tree and pole along the three-mile route taken by the funeral procession from the high school to the cemetery.
In July 2017, the U.S. government announced that it would ban American tourists from visiting North Korea as of September 1, 2017. In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 19, 2017, President Donald Trump mentioned Warmbier while lambasting the North Korean regime as a rogue state.
One week later, Trump posted on Twitter that Warmbier was “tortured beyond belief” by North Korea. This was the first time President Trump had publicly accused the North Korean regime of torturing Warmbier.
Great interview on @foxandfriends with the parents of Otto Warmbier: 1994 – 2017. Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea.
