Bill Richardson, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, said he had met with North Korean diplomats to the U.N.in NY on Tuesday to request Warmbier’s release after the student’s parents and Kasich asked him to intervene.
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Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old University of Virginia undergraduate student from Wyoming, Ohio, was arrested in January for allegedly “perpetrating a hostile act” against the regime.
North Korean state media said he had confessed to taking a sign from a “staff only” area of the hotel.
In February, Warmbier made an appearance on KCNA, North Korea’s state television network, where he appeared to confess the deed, saying he had been encouraged by a church group to return from North Korea with a “trophy”.
Another detained American, Matthew Todd Miller, was released at the same time; he had been accused of committing “hostile acts” and sentenced to six years’ hard labor just two months before.
If you decide to take a tour of North Korea and someone double dog dares you to steal something, say no. Pyongyang has also made a series of bellicose threats as the USA and South Korea conducted annual joint military exercises that the North has branded as a rehearsal for invasion.
Several Americans detained in North Korea admitted to being forced to make false statements at press conferences, according to The New York Times. In announcing his arrest, the state news media said that Mr. Warmbier had visited with the intent of “bringing down the foundation of its single-minded unity”.
Mr Richardson has previously been involved in negotiations to secure the release of Americans from North Korea detention.
“Despite official claims that US citizens arrested in North Korea are not used for political purposes, it is increasingly clear that the North Korean government seeks to use these USA citizens as pawns to pursue a political agenda”, spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
North Korea is also holding a Korean-Canadian Christian pastor it sentenced to hard labor for life in December for subversion.
The US is imposing “robust” new sanctions against North Korea after an American student was jailed for 15 years hard labour.
Warmbier then went on to praise the North Korean government, “I have been very impressed with the Korean government’s humanitarian treatment of severe criminals like myself and of their very fair and square legal procedures”. “Continuing to hold him only further alienates North Korea from the global community”.
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The statements are widely considered to have been coerced, and detainees often recant their confessions after their release.
