You might remember early last year that a 22-year-old American college student was jailed for 15 years by North Korea after he tried to nick a flag while travelling in the country. Well, he’s been released – a year after he was sentenced in a one-hour trial – but he’s in a coma.
In fact, Otto Warmbier has been in a coma since shortly after his trial. His family were told that he contracted botulism after the trial, and was given a sleeping pill from which he never awoke.
North Korea released #OttoWarmbier after being detained for 17 months #northkorea #news #pyongyang #politics #trump #America pic.twitter.com/6azRyA87r9
— PoliticsChatter (@PoliticsChattr) June 13, 2017
“Our son is coming home,” father Fred Warmbier said. “At the moment, we’re just treating this like he’s been in an accident. We get to see our son Otto tonight.”
Botulism is a rare illness caused by a bacterial toxin. Obviously it’s weird that he would contract it just after he was sentenced to fifteen years hard labour by the North Korean state, but there’s not a whole lot else to go off right now.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issued a statement but divulged very little info on how this deal was achieved. “At the direction of the President, the Department of State has secured the release of Otto Warmbier from North Korea,” he said in a statement. “Mr Warmbier is en route to the US where he will be reunited with his family.”
Warmbier said before his trial that he tried to steal the propaganda poster as a trophy for an acquaintance, who offered him a used car worth $13,200 in exchange for the item. The North Korean government, on the other hand, says that the poster was stolen “pursuant to the US government’s hostile policy toward (the North), in a bid to impair the unity of its people after entering it as a tourist.”
Coincidentally (or not), Dennis Rodman is currently in North Korea. It’s not clear whether the former basketballer’s presence was part of this deal. Though he has met both Trump and Kim Jong-un, so who bloody knows. Anything is possible these days.
Source: News.com.au.
Photo: Twitter.
