Otto Warmbier

According to his medical team, brain scans revealed Warmbier had suffered extensive loss of brain tissue throughout his brain, consistent with a cardiopulmonary event that caused the brain to be deprived of oxygen. Doctors said they did not know what caused the cardiac arrest, but that it could have been triggered by a respiratory arrest, while a neurointensive care specialist at the hospital stated that there was no evidence indicating botulism. His doctors found no evidence of physical abuse or torture; scans of Warmbier's neck and head were normal outside of the brain injury. They added "We didn’t see any evidence of healing fractures or healed fractures that would have been within that time frame" and that "We believe that for somebody who had been bedridden for more than a year, that his body was in excellent condition, that his skin was in excellent condition".

In February 2019, at the conclusion of the second North Korea–United States summit, Trump announced that he had discussed Warmbier's treatment with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and said, "He [Kim] tells me he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word." President Trump also argued that it would not have been to Kim's advantage to allow Warmbier to be treated poorly. Following President Trump's comments, Warmbier's parents released a statement, saying: "We have been respectful during this summit process. Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuse or lavish praise can change that." Trump later said his remarks had been "misinterpreted" and added, "Of course I hold North Korea responsible for Otto's mistreatment and death," without mentioning Kim specifically.

In April 2019, The Washington Post reported previously undisclosed news that at the time of Warmbier's medical evacuation, North Korean officials had presented the U.S. delegation that repatriated him with a bill for US$2 million for his medical treatment while in Pyongyang. President Trump denied that the U.S. government had paid the bill.

In July 2019, the Warmbier family filed a claim on a North Korean cargo ship, Wise Honest, that had been judicially seized in Indonesia by the U.S. government in May 2019 for allegedly transporting and selling North Korean coal in violation of international sanctions. U.S. federal judges ordered that the vessel be sold to compensate the Warmbiers, and also the family of Kim Dong-shik, a Korean-American missionary believed to have died in North Korea after being abducted from China in January 2000.

In 2018, a U.S. federal court found the North Korean government liable for Warmbier's torture and death, in a default judgment in favor of Warmbier's parents after North Korea did not contest the case. In 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump caused controversy after saying that he believed the word of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that Kim was not responsible for Warmbier's death. In response, Warmbier's parents criticized Trump for making excuses for Kim and "his evil regime".

In June 2018, Warmbier's parents praised President Trump for his comments about the family and stated that they hoped something positive would come from the first North Korea–United States summit, which was held that month.

In April 2018, Warmbier's parents sued the North Korean government in the United States federal district court in Washington, D.C., accusing North Korea of torture and murder. Although private citizens are not usually able to sue foreign nations and their governments, damages may be paid to the victims of nations designated as state sponsors of terrorism, like North Korea, from a special fund established by the United States Congress.

On December 24, 2018 Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell handed down a default judgment ordering North Korea to pay $501 million in damages. A copy of the judgment couriered by the court to North Korea's foreign ministry in Pyongyang was sent back to the court. VOA News remarked that "it is unlikely North Korea will pay the judgment since there is no mechanism to force it to do so", but that the Warmbier family "may nonetheless be able to recoup damages through a Justice Department-administered fund for victims of state-sponsored acts of terrorism, and may look to seize other assets held by the country outside of North Korea."

Shortly after his sentencing in March 2016, Warmbier suffered a severe neurological injury from an unconfirmed cause and fell into a coma, which lasted over a year. North Korean authorities did not disclose his medical condition until June 2017, when they announced he had fallen into a coma as a result of botulism and a sleeping pill. He was freed later that month, still in a comatose state after 17 months in captivity. He was repatriated to the United States and arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio on June 13, 2017. He was taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center for immediate evaluation and treatment.

Warmbier never regained consciousness and died on June 19, 2017, six days after his return to the United States when his parents had requested his feeding tube to be removed. A coroner's report stated that he died from an unknown injury causing lack of oxygen to the brain. Non-invasive internal scans did not find any signs of fractures to his skull.

Fred and Cindy Warmbier met with numerous Obama administration officials, including then Secretary of State John Kerry, and with the Swedish ambassador, who served as an interlocutor between the U.S. and North Korea. In May 2017, Fred Warmbier said the Obama administration had encouraged them to keep a low profile about their son's situation, but that he and his wife wanted their son to be part of any negotiations between the United States and North Korea.

On June 13, 2017, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced that North Korea had released Warmbier. Tillerson also announced that the State Department had secured Warmbier's release at the direction of President Donald Trump, and the State Department would continue discussing three other detained Americans with North Korea.

After his parents requested his feeding tube be removed, 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." He added: "The United States once again condemns the brutality of the North Korean regime as we mourn its latest victim."

A funeral for Warmbier was held on June 22, 2017, at Wyoming High School; more than 2,500 mourners attended. 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, with Warmbier's detention given as one of the reasons.

In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 19, 2017, President Donald Trump mentioned Warmbier while lambasting North Korea as a rogue state. One week later, Trump posted on Twitter that Warmbier was "tortured beyond belief" by North Korea. His post followed a televised interview given by Warmbier's parents, in which they spoke of their son's death and expressed their wish for North Korea to be relisted as a state sponsor of terrorism.

On November 20, 2017, the U.S. Department of State relisted North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism. President Trump mentioned Warmbier's case when making this announcement.

Warmbier was scheduled to undertake a study-abroad program in Hong Kong in early 2016, and decided to visit North Korea en route over the New Year period. He booked a tour of North Korea with Young Pioneer Tours, a China-based budget tour operator whose slogan is "destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from". Warmbier's father Fred said that Young Pioneer advertised the trip as safe for U.S. citizens and that Otto was "curious about their culture... he wanted to meet the people of North Korea."

On January 2, 2016, Warmbier was arrested at Pyongyang International Airport while awaiting departure from North Korea. Danny Gratton, a British member of Warmbier's tour group, witnessed the arrest. He said:

North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) initially announced that Warmbier had been detained for "a hostile act against the state," without specifying further details. North Korea refused to elaborate on the precise nature of his wrongdoing for six weeks, although a Young Pioneer spokeswoman advised Reuters there had been an "incident" at the Yanggakdo Hotel. 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 home. 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, said that he was clearly under duress. Former prisoners of North Korea have later recanted their confessions after their release, stating they were made under duress.

On March 16, 2016, a few hours after U.S. envoy Bill Richardson met in New York with two North Korean diplomats from the United Nations office to press for Warmbier's release, Warmbier was tried and convicted in North Korea's Supreme Court. He was charged with subversion under Article 60 of North Korea's Criminal Code. The court held that he had committed a crime "pursuant to the U.S. government's hostile policy toward [North Korea], in a bid to impair the unity of its people after entering it as a tourist." Evidence at his trial, which lasted one hour, included his confession, CCTV footage, fingerprint evidence, and witness testimony. A video purporting to be the hotel's security-camera footage of the theft of the propaganda poster was released by KCNA on March 18, 2016. In the brief low-resolution video, time-stamped 1:57  a.m., a figure removes a poster from a corridor wall and places it on the floor, leaning it against the wall. The footage released does not display subsequent events. Warmbier indicated in his confession that he abandoned the poster after discovering it was too large to carry away. A hotel staff member told the court: "When I got off work, there was nothing amiss. But when I returned, I thought someone had deliberately taken the slogan down, so I mobilized security to prevent damage to it and reported it to the authorities."

Medical records from North Korea showed that Warmbier had been in this state since April 2016, one month after his conviction. During his release, the North Koreans provided a disc containing two magnetic resonance imaging brain scans, dated April and July 2016, showing damage to the brain.

Warmbier entered North Korea as part of a guided tour group on December 29, 2015. On January 2, 2016, he was arrested at Pyongyang International Airport while awaiting departure from the country. He was convicted of attempting to steal a propaganda poster from his hotel, for which he was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment with hard labor.

On December 29, 2015, Warmbier flew via Beijing to North Korea with his tour group, which included ten other U.S. citizens, for a five-day New Year's tour. 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 (in Korean), "Let's arm ourselves strongly with Kim Jong-il's patriotism!" Damaging or stealing such items with the name or image of a North Korean leader is considered a serious crime by the North Korean government.

Otto Frederick Warmbier (December 12, 1994 – June 19, 2017) was an American college student who was imprisoned in North Korea in 2016 on a charge of subversion. In June 2017, he was released by North Korea in a vegetative state and died soon afterward.

Otto Warmbier was born on December 12, 1994, the eldest of three children of Cynthia ("Cindy", née Garber) and Fred Warmbier. He was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended Wyoming High School, where he was considered popular and studious, and graduated in 2013 as salutatorian. He went on to enroll at the University of Virginia, where he was pursuing a double major degree in commerce and economics, and did a foreign exchange at the London School of Economics. His minor was in global sustainability. He was a member of the Theta Chi fraternity. Warmbier's mother is Jewish, and Otto was active in Hillel on his college campus. He had an interest in other cultures, and had visited Israel (on a Birthright trip), Europe, Cuba, and Ecuador.