A US student released by North Korea to the US in a coma was a victim of the “strategic patience” policy of former President Barack Obama, who never requested his release, says Pyongyang. It labels itself the “biggest victim” after the student’s death.
North Korea has blamed the death of Otto Warmbier, whom it released in a coma after 17 months’ detention, on Obama’s “strategic patience” policy. His release was never requested, Pyongyang says.
Warmbier was released earlier in June with severe neurological trauma after months spent in a coma. He passed away at University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Ohio, on Monday.
In its first official comment following his death, Pyongyang says Warmbier was “a victim of the policy of strategic patience” of then-US President Obama, whose administration never requested his release, an unnamed North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement to the official KCNA agency, released Friday and seen by Reuters, AFP and AP.
Pyongyang then went on, saying North Korea is the “biggest victim” in Warmbier’s death.
According to the unnamed official, the fact that Warmbier died suddenly, less than a week after his return to the US in his normal state of health “is a mystery to us as well.”
US doctors who traveled to check on the student’s health confirmed that Pyongyang had “provided him with medical treatment and brought him back [to life, as his] heart was nearly stopped, ” the official added.
