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Otto Warmbier Was ‘Brutalized and Terrorized’ in North Korea, Father Says Otto Warmbier Was ‘Brutalized and Terrorized’ in North Korea, Father Says
(about 4 hours later)
WYOMING, Ohio — The father of Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old student who was released from North Korea, said on Thursday that his son was “brutalized and terrorized” during 18 months of captivity, hours after the North said it had freed him on “humanitarian grounds.” CINCINNATI — Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old student who was released from North Korea this week after 17 months of captivity, is stable but unresponsive and has suffered “extensive loss of brain tissue in all regions of his brain,” his doctors said Thursday.
Speaking to a packed news conference at the local high school, the father, Fred Warmbier, also praised the administration of President Trump for working to free his son. He also made clear his displeasure with the administration of former President Barack Obama, whose officials, he said, had advised the family to stay quiet so as not to antagonize the North Koreans. Hours earlier, Mr. Warmbier’s father attacked the North as a “pariah regime” that had “brutalized and terrorized” his son.
“The result speak for themselves,” Mr. Warmbier said. He said Mr. Trump called him Wednesday night and told him, “We worked hard, and I’m sorry this is the outcome.” In back-to-back news conferences on a day when North Korea claimed it had freed the younger Mr. Warmbier on “humanitarian grounds,” Fred Warmbier and the doctors caring for his son hinted at a grim future for the young man.
The younger Mr. Warmbier, an honors student at the University of Virginia who grew up in this small city adjacent to Cincinnati, is being evaluated by doctors at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. A hospital spokeswoman said that he was in stable condition, with a “severe neurological injury.” “We’re trying to make him comfortable,” his father said.
A senior American official said that Mr. Warmbier was singled out for particularly brutal beatings while in captivity, but little else is known of his ordeal. In its statement about Mr. Warmbier on Thursday, North Korea did not reveal any details of his medical condition or of the diplomatic negotiations that led to his release. Dr. Daniel Kanter, a neurologist at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, said Mr. Warmbier’s condition “can best be described as a state of unresponsive wakefulness.”
“We have very few answers,” Mr. Warmbier said. Asked about his son’s medical condition, he said only, “We’re trying to make him comfortable.” Mr. Warmbier is breathing on his own, and his heart and other major organs are functioning. But he has “no spontaneous eye opening and blinking,” the doctor said, shows “no signs of understanding language” and cannot respond to verbal commands.
In December 2015, the younger Mr. Warmbier embarked on a five-day tour of the North with a Chinese company that advertised “budget travel to destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from.” During the news conference on Thursday, his father lashed out at the tour company, Young Pioneer Tours, and accused North Korea of endangering Americans by luring them to the North. The statements from the father and the doctors shed little light on what Mr. Warmbier has endured since March 2016, when he tearfully confessed to stealing a propaganda poster and was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor after a one-hour trial. The doctors appeared to dismiss the North Koreans’ claim that Mr. Warmbier collapsed from a combination of botulism and sleeping pills, saying there was no evidence he had botulism.
Mr. Warmbier was detained at the Pyongyang airport in early January 2016 as he tried to leave and charged with an unspecified “hostile act” against the government. He later gave a tearful televised statement, in which he confessed to stealing a propaganda poster; he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor during a one-hour trial in March 2016. At the request of the Warmbier family, Dr. Kanter and two other specialists who spoke to reporters would not discuss Mr. Warmbier’s prognosis.
Fred Warmbier, describing his son’s return as “bittersweet,” wore the same cream-color jacket that Otto wore when making his confession — a statement that he called “an amazing performance.” He also dismissed the North’s explanation that his son’s condition was the result of a combination of botulism and a sleeping pill. Earlier in the day, the elder Warmbier addressed reporters wearing the same cream-colored jacket that Otto wore when he confessed, and fought back tears as he spoke of it.
“I’m able to wear the jacket he wore when he gave his confession,” the anguished father said, his voice cracking. “I’m not confessing, I’m speaking, but Otto, I love you and I’m so crazy about you and I’m so glad you’re home.”
The elder Mr. Warmbier also praised the administration of President Trump for working to free his son, and made clear his displeasure with the administration of former President Barack Obama, whose officials, he said, had advised the family to stay quiet so as not to antagonize the North Koreans.
“The result speak for themselves,” Mr. Warmbier said when asked whether the Obama administration had done enough. He said Mr. Trump called him Wednesday night and told him, “We worked hard, and I’m sorry this is the outcome.”
Experts say it is extremely difficult for any administration to have sway with an authoritarian government like North Korea. The White House, for example, cannot afford to have a hostage negotiation complicate other issues, like the North’s nuclear program or the economic sanctions the United States has imposed on the country. And the standard recommendation to families — to remain quiet and avoid publicity — can only deepen their despair and isolation.
Daniel R. Russel, a former assistant secretary of state under Mr. Obama, said the Trump administration deserves ‘‘credit for being dogged’’ in pursuing Mr. Warmbier’s release, but had done little differently from the Obama administration. And Robert R. King, the former special envoy for North Korea human rights issues who retired in January, noted that the younger Mr. Warmbier had ignored the explicit advice of the State Department, which has a notice on its website that ‘‘strongly warns’’ American citizens not to travel to North Korea.
“This is a problem where the North Koreans did the wrong thing,’’ Mr. King said in an interview. “This is not a case where the U.S. made mistakes in terms of our efforts. We did everything we could to deal with that case.”
Little is known of Mr. Warmbier’s ordeal; a senior American official said earlier this week that he was singled out for particularly brutal beatings while in captivity, although the University of Cincinnati doctors said Thursday that they saw no evidence of beatings. In its statement claiming Mr. Warmbier had been released on humanitarian grounds, North Korea did not reveal any details of his medical condition or of the diplomatic negotiations that led to his release.
“We have very few answers,” the elder Mr. Warmbier said.
This much is known: In December 2015, the younger Mr. Warmbier embarked on a five-day tour of the North with a Chinese company that advertised “budget travel to destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from.” Mr. Warmbier was detained at the Pyongyang airport in early January 2016 as he tried to leave and charged with an unspecified “hostile act” against the government. Two months later, he was shown in a courtroom giving his tearful televised statement, in which he confessed to stealing a propaganda poster.
During the news conference on Thursday, his father lashed out at the tour company, Young Pioneer Tours, and accused North Korea of endangering Americans by using tour companies to lure them to the North, where they can be taken hostage.
Fred Warmbier, describing his son’s return as “bittersweet,” dismissed the North’s explanation that his condition was the result of a combination of botulism and a sleeping pill.
“Even if you believe their explanation of botulism and a sleeping pill causing the coma — and we don’t — there is no excuse for any civilized nation to have kept his condition secret and denied him top notch medical care for so long,” he said.“Even if you believe their explanation of botulism and a sleeping pill causing the coma — and we don’t — there is no excuse for any civilized nation to have kept his condition secret and denied him top notch medical care for so long,” he said.
Here in Wyoming, a close-knit city of 8,400 where the Warmbiers live on a private lane near a golf course, Otto Warmbier’s release brought mixed feelings — relief that he is home, but also sadness over his medical condition. Every Sunday, the local churches have been praying for his safe return. In Wyoming, a close-knit city of 8,400 near Cincinnati where the Warmbiers live on a private lane near a golf course, Otto Warmbier’s release brought mixed feelings — relief that he is home, but also sadness over his medical condition. Every Sunday, the local churches have been praying for his safe return.
“Now, we’ll pray for his health,” said Sherry Sheffield, the city’s unofficial historian. “Now, we’ll pray for his health,” said Sherry Sheffield, Wyoming’s unofficial historian.
Tree trunks and telephone poles along Springfield Pike, the city’s main thoroughfare, were decorated with blue and white ribbons, the color of the local high school, in Mr. Warmbier’s honor. Residents planned to line the street in front of the high school, in a show of respect to family members as they left Thursday’s news conference. Tree trunks and telephone poles along Springfield Pike, Wyoming’s main thoroughfare, were decorated with blue and white ribbons, the color of the local high school, in Mr. Warmbier’s honor. Residents planned to line the street in front of the high school, in a show of respect to family members as they left Thursday’s news conference.
Still, Ms. Sheffield said, many people have questions.Still, Ms. Sheffield said, many people have questions.
“What kind of tour company takes people to North Korea?” she asked.“What kind of tour company takes people to North Korea?” she asked.
For much of the 17 months that Mr. Warmbier was in North Korean custody, his parents maintained a public silence. A family friend, Michael Forsythe, said on Wednesday that the situation was kind of like the “elephant in the room” — everyone here shared the family’s grief, but no one wanted to bring it up.For much of the 17 months that Mr. Warmbier was in North Korean custody, his parents maintained a public silence. A family friend, Michael Forsythe, said on Wednesday that the situation was kind of like the “elephant in the room” — everyone here shared the family’s grief, but no one wanted to bring it up.
Fred Warmbier said he and his wife had traveled to Washington a dozen times and met with numerous officials, including former Secretary of State John Kerry, as well as the Swedish ambassador to the United States, when Mr. Obama was president. Sweden has acted as an interlocutor between the United States and North Korea.Fred Warmbier said he and his wife had traveled to Washington a dozen times and met with numerous officials, including former Secretary of State John Kerry, as well as the Swedish ambassador to the United States, when Mr. Obama was president. Sweden has acted as an interlocutor between the United States and North Korea.
“We relied on this false premise that they would treat Otto fairly and let him go,” the father said.“We relied on this false premise that they would treat Otto fairly and let him go,” the father said.
But eventually, the couple concluded that their silence had done little or nothing. Last month, they spoke out on the Fox News program “Fox and Friends,” amid rising tensions between the United States and North Korea over the North’s nuclear weapons program.But eventually, the couple concluded that their silence had done little or nothing. Last month, they spoke out on the Fox News program “Fox and Friends,” amid rising tensions between the United States and North Korea over the North’s nuclear weapons program.
“Nothing Otto may or may not have done in North Korea rises to this level of punishment,” the father said then. He added that he wanted his son to be “included in any dialogue or diplomacy with North Korea.” “Nothing Otto may or may not have done in North Korea rises to this level of punishment,” the father said then. He added that he wanted his son’s case to be “included in any dialogue or diplomacy with North Korea.”
Last month, North Korean officials asked for an emergency meeting with their American counterparts in New York, which opened the door for Mr. Warmbier’s return. But the Warmbiers learned of their son’s grave medical condition only last week. The father said the family now felt liberated, unafraid to speak their minds.Last month, North Korean officials asked for an emergency meeting with their American counterparts in New York, which opened the door for Mr. Warmbier’s return. But the Warmbiers learned of their son’s grave medical condition only last week. The father said the family now felt liberated, unafraid to speak their minds.
The father’s criticism of the Obama administration’s failed efforts to bring his son home is likely to sting current and former officials who tried to improve the government response to these kinds of cases.The father’s criticism of the Obama administration’s failed efforts to bring his son home is likely to sting current and former officials who tried to improve the government response to these kinds of cases.
After several American hostages were beheaded in Syria in 2014, including a journalist James Foley, the families harshly criticized the White House for not doing more to save them. The government was accused of being cold and uncaring when it came to rescuing loved ones and criticized for failing to share information. After several American hostages were beheaded in Syria in 2014, including the journalist James Foley, the families harshly criticized the White House for not doing more to save them. The government was accused of being cold and uncaring when it came to rescuing loved ones and it was criticized for failing to share information.
To better coordinate the government’s interaction with the families, President Obama in 2015 established an F.B.I.-led Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell and a special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, a position that remains unfilled under the current administration. To better coordinate the government’s interaction with the families, Mr. Obama in 2015 established an F.B.I.-led Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell and a special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, a position that remains unfilled under the current administration.
Since then, the government has had a mixed record of success. It has freed dozens of hostages held overseas but there has been little progress involving several high-profile case of people held in Iran, North Korea and Afghanistan. Since then, the government has had a mixed record of success. It has freed dozens of hostages held overseas but there has been little progress involving several high-profile cases of people held in Iran, North Korea and Afghanistan.