The Cavalier Daily
Serving the University Community Since 1890

North Korea responds to Warmbier death

DPRK called itself 'the biggest victim of this incident' in Warmbier’s detainment, release and death

<p>North Korea’s statement said the country still believed Warmbier had committed a “hostile act” against the DPRK.</p>

North Korea’s statement said the country still believed Warmbier had committed a “hostile act” against the DPRK.

A spokesperson for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry released a statement Friday claiming North Korea is a victim of a U.S. smear campaign in the death of University student Otto Warmbier.

The statement also claimed North Korea did not cause his medical condition and coma through beatings and torture, but that the country had taken care of him while he was in custody and “brought him back alive.”

According to the statement, North Korea does not know the cause of Warmbier’s death. Doctors from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center treating Warmbier said he was in a state of “unresponsive wakefulness” and had lost a lot of brain tissue upon his June 13 release.

“Although we had no reason at all to show mercy to such a criminal of the enemy state, we provided him with medical treatments and care with all sincerity on humanitarian basis until his return to the U.S., considering that his health got worse,” the statement read.

In the statement, North Korea said the U.S. response to the country following Warmbier’s release was “a frontal challenge and political plot,” calling itself “the biggest victim of this incident.”

The statement also said North Korea plans to harshen its attitude towards the U.S. and other countries.

“The smear campaign against DPRK staged in the U.S. compels us to make firm determination that humanitarianism and benevolence for the enemy are a taboo and we should further sharpen the blade of law,” the statement read. “The U.S. should ponder over the consequences to be entailed from its reckless and rash act.”

North Korea’s statement said the country still believed Warmbier had committed a “hostile act” against the DPRK on assignment from the Z Society, the Friendship United Methodist Church and the CIA, citing Warmbier’s February 2016 confession that led to his sentence of 15 years of hard labor in March of that year.

The statement placed blame for Warmbier’s detainment on former U.S. President Barack Obama, claiming he was “engrossed in utmost hostility and negation against the DPRK.”

While the statement said Warmbier was released due to multiple requests for release on humanitarian grounds by the Trump administration, it also blamed the U.S. government for the contentious state of relations with the DPRK.

“The DPRK-U.S. relations are in the most hostile and belligerent state, and the U.S. is making every frantic effort to disparage the prestige of the dignified DPRK and stifle it while imposing heinous sanctions and pressure unprecedented in history,” the statement read.

The full statement is available here.

Comments

Latest Podcast

The University’s Associate Vice Provost for Enrollment and Undergraduate Admission, Greg Roberts, provides listeners with an insight into how the University conducts admissions and the legal subtleties regarding the possible end to the consideration of legacy status.



https://open.spotify.com/episode/02ZWcF1RlqBj7CXLfA49xt