Otto Warmbier’s parents thank Trump for praise at Kim summit

US president called student who died after being freed from North Korean prison a ‘very special person;’ family hopes ‘something positive can come’

By Matthew Lee 13 June 2018, 12:43 am

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Fred Warmbier, right, listens as his wife Cindy Warmbier speaks of their son Otto Warmbier, an American who died last year, days after his release from captivity in North Korea during a meeting Thursday, May 3, 2018, at the United Nations headquarters. (AP/Frank Franklin II)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The parents of Otto Warmbier, the American Jewish college student who died after being released from a North Korean prison last year, thanked US President Donald Trump for the kind words about their son he gave after his historic summit with North Korea’s leader.

Fred and Cindy Warmbier said in a brief statement after Trump met Kim Jong Un in Singapore that they appreciated the president’s comments about their son and family.

“We appreciate President Trump’s recent comments about our family,” they said. “We are proud of Otto and miss him. Hopefully something positive can come from this.”

Trump had said earlier in Singapore that Otto Warmbier was a “very special person” and that his death had galvanized the administration’s determination to deal with North Korea.

“I think, without Otto, this would not have happened,” Trump told reporters. “Something happened, from that day. It was a terrible thing. It was brutal. But a lot of people started to focus on what was going on, including North Korea.”

American student Otto Warmbier speaks to reporters Monday, Feb. 29, 2016, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)

“Otto did not die in vain,” he said. “He had a lot to do with us being here today.”

Warmbier was a student at University of Virginia who was arrested by North Korean authorities in January 2016 for stealing a propaganda poster and sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor. After suffering still unexplained brain injuries, he was released on June 13, 2017 and died six days later.