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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
(35 minutes later)
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 on Thursday. WYOMING, Ohio — For more than a year, while their son Otto was a prisoner in North Korea, Fred and Cindy Warmbier knew nothing about his fate.
Hours earlier, Mr. Warmbier’s father attacked the North as a “pariah regime” that had “brutalized and terrorized” his son. Then, over the last week, the Warmbiers finally received some news: First, the family learned that Otto, a 22-year-old University of Virginia student, was gravely ill, and then that he would be coming home. But his return has been heart-wrenching for the family and this small community that has wrapped its arms around them.
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. On Thursday, doctors caring for Mr. Warmbier at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center delivered grim news: He had suffered “extensive loss of brain tissue in all regions of his brain” most likely due to “cardiopulmonary arrest,” which cut off the blood supply to his brain.
“We’re trying to make him comfortable,” his father said. Based on two M.R.I. scans sent by the North Koreans, the doctors concluded Mr. Warmbier had sustained his catastrophic brain injury sometime before April 2016.
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.” “His neurological condition can best be described as a state of unresponsive wakefulness,” said Dr. Daniel Kanter, the medical director at the center’s Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit. Mr. Warmbier has “spontaneous eye-opening and blinking,” Dr. Kanter said, but “shows no signs of understanding language, responding to verbal commands or awareness of his surroundings.”
Mr. Warmbier is breathing on his own, and his heart and other major organs are functioning. He has “spontaneous eye-opening and blinking,” Dr. Kanter said, but “shows no signs of understanding language, responding to verbal commands or awareness of his surroundings.” The doctors spoke just hours after Fred Warmbier attacked North Korea as a “pariah regime” that had “terrorized and brutalized” his son. He described the homecoming as “bittersweet” and called his son “a fighter,” adding somberly, “We’re trying to make him comfortable.”
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. The statements from the father and the University of Cincinnati doctors — on a day when North Korea claimed it had freed Mr. Warmbier on “humanitarian grounds” — shed little light on what he 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.
At the request of the Warmbier family, Dr. Kanter and two other specialists who spoke to reporters would not discuss Mr. Warmbier’s prognosis. And the case threatened to further damage the already tense relationship between the United States and the North.
Earlier in the day, the elder Mr. Warmbier addressed reporters wearing the same cream-colored jacket that his son wore when he confessed, and fought back tears as he spoke of it. While North Korea claimed that Mr. Warmbier collapsed from a combination of botulism and sleeping pills, the doctors appeared to dismiss that theory, saying there was no evidence the young man had botulism. A senior American official said this week that Mr. Warmbier was singled out for particularly brutal beatings while in captivity, but doctors said that they saw no evidence of beatings.
“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.” “We have very few answers,” Fred Warmbier said.
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 to avoid antagonizing the North Koreans. This much is known: In December 2015, 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.
“The results speak for themselves,” Mr. Warmbier said when asked whether the Obama administration had done enough. He said Mr. Trump called him on Wednesday night and told him, “We worked hard, and I’m sorry this is the outcome.” Two months later, he was in a courtroom, wearing a cream-colored jacket and looking distraught as he gave a televised statement. On Thursday, Fred Warmbier addressed reporters wearing that same jacket, and fought back tears as he spoke of it.
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. “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.”
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. During the news conference, Mr. Warmbier 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 into custody.
“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.” He dismissed the North’s explanation of his son’s condition.
Little is known of Mr. Warmbier’s ordeal; a senior American official said this week that he was singled out for particularly brutal beatings while in captivity, although the University of Cincinnati doctors said on 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,” his father said.
This much is known: In December 2015, 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 was 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, Fred Warmbier 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.
Describing his son’s return as “bittersweet,” he 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.
In Wyoming, a close-knit city of 8,400 near Cincinnati where the Warmbiers live on a private lane near a golf course, Mr. 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, Mr. Warmbier’s release brought mixed feelings — relief that he was home, but also sadness over his medical condition. Every Sunday, the local churches have prayed for his safe return.
“Now, we’ll pray for his health,” said Sherry Sheffield, Wyoming’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, 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. Tree trunks and telephone poles along Springfield Pike, the city’s main thoroughfare, were decorated with blue and white ribbons, the colors of the local high school, where Mr. Warmbier played soccer and was voted homecoming king. Residents lined the street in front of the 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 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 public silence. A family friend, Michael Forsythe, said on Wednesday that the situation was kind of like the “elephant in the room” — everyone 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. Mr. Warmbier said he and his wife had traveled to Washington a dozen times and met with numerous officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry, as well as the Swedish ambassador to the United States, when Barack 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. Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, who has grown close to the Warmbiers, said he had dozens of meetings with American, Swedish and North Korean officials to try to secure Mr. Warmbier’s release. But he said that the talks became increasingly difficult and fruitless as relations between the United States and the North deteriorated further over the North’s missile tests.
But eventually, the couple concluded that their silence had done little or nothing. Last month, they spoke out on the Fox News program “Fox & Friends,” amid rising tensions between the United States and North Korea over the North’s nuclear weapons program. “There was this larger geopolitical conflict that he got caught up in, sadly,’’ the senator said.
Eventually, the Warmbiers concluded that their silence had done little or nothing. Last month, they spoke out on the Fox News program “Fox & 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,” Fred Warmbier said then. He added that he wanted his son’s case 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,” Fred Warmbier 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, opening 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.
Fred Warmbier’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. He also praised the Trump administration for working to free his son, and made clear his displeasure with the Obama administration officials who he said had advised the family to stay quiet to avoid antagonizing the North.
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. “The results speak for themselves,” Mr. Warmbier said when asked whether the Obama administration had done enough. He said President Trump had called him on Wednesday night and told him, “We worked hard, and I’m sorry this is the outcome.”
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. 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. But the standard recommendation to families — to remain quiet and avoid publicity — can only deepen their despair and isolation.
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. 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 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.”