A federal judge in Washington awarded $500 million in damages to the family of Otto Warmbier, an Ohio student who died after being detained in North Korea for more than 17 months.
A federal judge in Washington awarded $500 million in damages to the family of Otto Warmbier, an Ohio student who died after being detained in North Korea for more than 17 months.
The wrongful death lawsuit was filed in April against the North Korean government by Warmbier’s parents, Fred and Cynthia Warmbier, accusing it of torturing their son. North Korea didn’t contest the case. U. S. District Judge Beryl Howell issued a default judgment Monday, but it’s likely North Korea will refuse to pay.
Warmbier was a 21-year-old University of Virginia junior on a group tour when he was seized by North Korean authorities in January 2016, and accused of trying to steal a propaganda poster featuring dictator Kim Jong-Il.
