Trump responds to 'tragic' death of Otto Warmbier, saying North Korea is a 'brutal regime' and 'we'll be able to handle it'

pulse

June 19, 2017 11:01 PM

"The United States once again condemns the brutality of the North Korean regime as we mourn its latest victim," the Trump statement concluded.

Otto Frederick Warmbier, a University of Virginia student who was detained in North Korea since early January, is taken to North Korea's top court in Pyongyang, North Korea

President Donald Trump offered he and his wife's 'deepest condolences' to the family of Otto Warmbier, the US student medically evacuated from North Korea after slipping into a coma.

"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," read a statement from Trump on Monday.

Trump said that his administration was determined to "prevent such tragedies from befalling innocent people at the hands of regimes that do not respect the rule of law or basic human decency."

Warmbier was tried and detained for "anti-state" activities which amounted to an attempt to steal a propaganda poster from a North Korean hotel. North Korea sentenced him to 15 years of hard labor, but Warmbier went into a coma shortly after his trial.

The Trump administration had secured the release of Warmbier over a long period of diplomatic negotiations. Upon Warmbier's release, Trump called his family.

Trump also commented on Warmbier's death during a technology roundtable event at the White House on Monday.

"He spent a year and a half in North Korea. A lot of bad things happened," Trump said of Warmbier. "But at least we got him home to be with his parents, where they were so happy to see him, even though he was in very tough condition. But he just passed away a little while ago."

He added: "It's a brutal regime, and we'll be able to handle it."

Warmbier died at 2:20 p.m. on Monday "surrounded by his loving family," according to a statement from the Warmbiers.

"The United States once again condemns the brutality of the North Korean regime as we mourn its latest victim," the Trump statement concluded.

The State Department also released a statement on Warmbier's death, saying the US holds North Korea accountable for Warmbier's "unjust imprisonment." The department also demanded the release of three other Americans who had been "illegally detained."

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