US President Donald Trump denounced North Korea as "a brutal regime" after a 22-year-old American university student held prisoner by Pyongyang for over a year before being returned in comatose condition died on Monday.
"It is our sad duty to report that our son, Otto Warmbier, has completed his journey home. Surrounded by his loving family, Otto died today at 2.20 p.m.," Otto's parents Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a statement cited by Efe news.
Warmbier was admitted in a hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 13 after he had been turned over in a state of coma with serious brain injuries by North Korean authorities.
The parents said that when their son arrived in Ohio, he was unable to speak or respond to stimuli. Trump sent his "deepest condolences" to Warmbier's family, saying: "Otto's fate deepens my administration's determination 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.
The new leader of South Korea, President Moon Jae-in, has condemned North Korea's "cruel actions" after the death of American Otto Warmbier. The University of Virginia student died Monday, less than a week after his return to the United States following nearly a year and a half of detention in the isolated authoritarian country.
"First of all, I would like to convey my deepest condolences to the bereaved family of Warmbier and the American people for the sorrow and shock they are suffering through," Moon told CBS This Morning co-host Norah O'Donnell.
"We can make speculations that there were many unjust and cruel treatments to Warmbier. And I strongly condemn such cruel actions by North Korea," he added. "Even today, there are many Korean nationals and American citizens who are detained in North Korea."