Washington, D.C.- North Korea has released Otto Warmbier, the American student serving a 15-year prison term with hard labor for alleged subversion, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday.

The 22-year-old University of Virginia undergraduate, from Cincinnati, Ohio, was convicted in March 2016 of attempting to steal a propaganda banner from a restricted area of his hotel at the request of an acquaintance.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor after a tearful one-hour trial.

In a statement, the State Department said Warmbier was “en route to the U.S. where he will be reunited with his family,” adding it would have no further comment on his case, citing privacy concerns.

It said the department “continues to have discussions with [North Korea] regarding the three other American citizens who are detained.”

The Washington Post reported that Warmbier was medically evacuated from the isolated state in a coma, citing his parents, although this report could not be independently confirmed by NBC News. The student was evacuated via a U.S. military base in Sapporo, Japan, the newspaper said.

Warmbier had been staying at the Yanggakdo International Hotel, which is located on an island in a river that runs through Pyongyang, the capital. It is common for sections of tourist hotels to be reserved for North Korean staff and off-limits to foreigners.

North Korea regularly accuses Washington and Seoul of sending spies to overthrow its government to enable the U.S.-backed South Korean government to control the Korean Peninsula.

U.S. tourism to North Korea is legal, but the U.S. State Department strongly advises against it.

The announcement came as former NBA player Dennis Rodman paid a return visit to North Korea.

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) said he hoped the privacy of Warmbier’s family would be respected “in the weeks and months ahead.”

In a statement, he said: “My first priority will be continuing to support Otto, his parents and family, whose strength and love of family inspire me every time I speak with them. North Korea’s despicable actions in detaining and holding Otto were unacceptable and must be condemned. ”

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 Note: By commenting below you agree to abide by the KOBI5.com commenting guidelines. View the KOBI5.com Comment Board Guidelines »</s>WASHINGTON — North Korea has released Otto Warmbier, the American student serving a 15-year prison term with hard labor for alleged subversion, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday.

The 22-year-old University of Virginia undergraduate, from Cincinnati, Ohio, was convicted in March 2016 of attempting to steal a propaganda banner from a restricted area of his hotel at the request of an acquaintance.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor after a tearful one-hour trial.

Warmbier landed in Cincinnati late Tuesday night and was taken to a hospital for treatment. The State Department said in a statement earlier that Warmbier was headed to the U.S. to be reunited with his family, but said it would have no further comment on his case, citing privacy concerns.

The department "continues to have discussions with [North Korea] regarding the three other American citizens who are detained."

Warmbier’s parents told the Washington Post and the Associated Press that he was medically evacuated from the isolated nation in a coma. NBC News has attempted to reach Warmbier’s parents to confirm those reports. The student was evacuated via U.S. military base in Sapporo, Japan, the Post reported.

Warmbier arrived at Lunken Airport in Cincinnati just after 10 p.m. Tuesday night and was taken to University of Cincinnati Medical Center for treatment, officials said.

The University of Virginia, the school where Warmbier was a student before his imprisonment, said it was "deeply concerned and saddened to learn from his family that he is in a coma."

Warmbier had been staying at the Yanggakdo International Hotel, which is located on an island in a river that runs through Pyongyang, the capital. It is common for sections of tourist hotels to be reserved for North Korean staff and off-limits to foreigners.

North Korea regularly accuses Washington and Seoul of sending spies to overthrow its government to enable the U.S.-backed South Korean government to control the Korean Peninsula.

U.S. tourism to North Korea is legal, but the U.S. State Department strongly advises against it.

The announcement came as former NBA player Dennis Rodman paid a return visit to North Korea. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Tuesday afternoon that Rodman “had nothing to do with the release” of Warmbier.

Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said he hoped the privacy of Warmbier's family would be respected "in the weeks and months ahead."

In a statement, he said: “My first priority will be continuing to support Otto, his parents and family, whose strength and love of family inspire me every time I speak with them. North Korea’s despicable actions in detaining and holding Otto were unacceptable and must be condemned. "

Hans Nichols reported from Washington, D.C., and Alastair Jamieson reported from London, England</s>Remember the American student, Otto Warmbier, 21, who was found guilty of what the North Korean government called “subversion.”

This was Warmbier’s weeping video during a North Korean sentencing…

Moments ago North Korea released Otto Warmbier, who was serving a 15-year prison term with hard labor for alleged anti-state acts.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made the announcement on Tuesday, that came as former NBA player Dennis Rodman was visiting Pyongyang.

“At the direction of the President, the Department of State has secured the release of Otto Warmbier from North Korea.” “Mr. Warmbier is en route to the U.S. where he will be reunited with his family.”

Rex Tillerson’s statement offered no other details and made no mention of Dennis Rodman’s visit.

The US State Department is continuing “to have discussions” with North Korea about the release of other American citizens who are jailed in the isolated nation.

Dennis Rodman said he did not plan to raise the fate of the Americans while he was in North Korea, but as Zerohedge reports, “if he [Rodman] manages to persuade Kim to end his nuclear program – something no other US politicians has achieved – it will mark quite a dramatic departure in style and substance to US foreign policy.” Incidentally, Rodman’s trip to North Korea is being sponsored by a digital currency for weed.

Citing privacy concerns. the statement said the US State Department would have no further comment on Warmbier.

In March 2016, North Korea’s highest court sentenced Warmbier to 15 years in prison with hard labor for subversion as he tearfully confessed that he had tried to steal a propaganda banner. Warmbier, 22, a University of Virginia undergraduate, was convicted and sentenced in a one-hour trial in North Korea’s Supreme Court. The U.S. government condemned the sentence and accused North Korea of using such American detainees as political pawns. The court held that Warmbier had committed a crime “pursuant to the U.S. government’s hostile policy toward (the North), in a bid to impair the unity of its people after entering it as a tourist.” North Korea regularly accuses Washington and Seoul of sending spies to overthrow its government to enable the U.S.-backed South Korean government to take control of the Korean Peninsula. Before his trial, Warmbier had said he tried to steal a propaganda banner as a trophy for an acquaintance who wanted to hang it in her church. That would be grounds in North Korea for a subversion charge. He identified the church as Friendship United Methodist Church. Meshach Kanyion, pastor of the church in Wyoming, declined to comment Wednesday. North Korea announced Warmbier’s arrest in late January 2016, saying he committed an anti-state crime with “the tacit connivance of the U.S. government and under its manipulation.” Warmbier had been staying at the Yanggakdo International Hotel. It is common for sections of tourist hotels to be reserved for North Korean staff and off-limits to foreigners. In a tearful statement made before his trial, Warmbier told a gathering of reporters in Pyongyang he was offered a used car worth $10,000 if he could get a propaganda banner and was also told that if he was detained and didn’t return, $200,000 would be paid to his mother in the form of a charitable donation. Warmbier said he accepted the offer because his family was “suffering from very severe financial difficulties.” Warmbier also said he had been encouraged by the university’s “Z Society,” which he said he was trying to join. The magazine of the university’s alumni association describes the Z Society as a “semi-secret ring society” founded in 1892 that conducts philanthropy, puts on honorary dinners and grants academic awards.



 What do you think?</s>Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption US student Otto Warmbier said he was "a poor scapegoat" before he was jailed in 2016

US student Otto Warmbier has been freed from jail in North Korea, but his parents say he has been in a coma for a year.

The 22-year-old was flown to the US and landed in Ohio late on Tuesday.

The Warmbier family told US media they had found out only last week that their son has been in a coma since shortly after his trial in March 2016.

Mr Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labour for attempting to steal a propaganda sign from a hotel.

On arrival in Ohio, he was being taken by ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, US media reported.

Who is Otto Warmbier?

Otto Warmbier is an economics student from the University of Virginia, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio.

He was in North Korea as a tourist with Young Pioneer Tours when he was arrested on 2 January 2016.

He appeared emotional at a news conference a month later, in which he tearfully confessed to trying to take the sign as a "trophy" for a US church, adding: "The aim of my task was to harm the motivation and work ethic of the Korean people."

Foreign detainees in North Korea have previously recanted confessions, saying they were made under pressure.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Otto Warmbier's parents feared for his safety as tensions rose between the US and North Korea

After a short trial on 16 March, Mr Warmbier was given a 15-year prison sentence for crimes against the state.

His parents Fred and Cindy told CNN in early May that they had had no contact with their son for more than a year.

What is his condition now?

In a statement on Tuesday, Mr and Mrs Warmbier said: "Sadly, he is in a coma and we have been told he has been in that condition since March 2016. We learned of this only one week ago."

They were quoted by the Washington Post as saying they had been told Otto had contracted botulism, a rare illness that causes paralysis, soon after his trial in March 2016.

He was given a sleeping pill and had been in a coma ever since, the newspaper said.

The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made no mention of Mr Warmbier's condition in a statement, saying only that he was on his way home to be reunited with his family and would not make any further comment, out of respect for the privacy of the family.

Who else is detained in North Korea?

There are reported to be three other US citizens in custody in North Korea. They are:

Kim Dong-chul, a 62-year-old naturalised US citizen born in South Korea, who was sentenced to 10 years hard labour in April 2016 for spying

Korean-American professor Kim Sang-duk (or Tony Kim) who was detained in April 2017. The reasons for his arrest are not yet clear

Kim Hak-song, like Kim Sang-duk, worked at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) and was detained in May 2017 on suspicion of "hostile acts" against the state

The US has in the past accused North Korea of detaining its citizens to use them as pawns in negotiations over its nuclear weapons programme.

Image copyright AFP Image caption Kim Dong-chul appeared on North Korea television a month after Otto Warmbier, also giving a tearful confession

The arrests have come at a time of heightened tension between North Korea and the US and its regional neighbours.

In other news on Tuesday, South Korea said it had found a North Korean drone that had crashed after taking photos of the US-funded Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system (Thaad), which aims to protect the South from the North's missiles.

South Korea's military also reported that a North Korean soldier had defected across the heavily-protected Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a rare occurrence.

Why is Dennis Rodman in Pyonyang?

Mr Warmbier's release comes hours after US basketball star Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea.

Mr Rodman is a friend of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and has made several visits to the country in recent years.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Dennis Rodman was mobbed by the press at Beijing airport en route to Pyongyang

There was some speculation that he might plead the case for the American detainees, but en route to North Korea he told reporters "my purpose is to actually see if I can keep bringing sports to North Korea".

He also said "I'm just trying to open the door", and added that he was "pretty much sure that [US President Trump] is happy with the fact that I am over here trying to accomplish something that we both need".

Mr Trump said in 2013 of Mr Rodman's then visit to North Korea: "You look at the world, the world is blowing up around us. Maybe Dennis is a lot better than what we have."</s>PYONGYANG, North Korea — American college student Otto Warmbier has been released after more than 17 months in detention in North Korea but has been in a coma for over a year, according to his parents.

The 22-year-old contracted botulism and is in “bad shape” but en route back to the United States, a source close to the family told CNN.

“Otto has left North Korea. He is on Medivac flight on his way home. Sadly, he is in a coma and we have been told he has been in that condition since March of 2016. We learned of this only one week ago,” said Fred and Cindy Warmbier in a statement.

“We want the world to know how we and our son have been brutalized and terrorized by the pariah regime in North Korean. We are so grateful that he will finally be with people who love him.”

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also confirmed Warmbier’s release in a statement.

Warmbier was detained in January 2016 at the airport in Pyongyang while on his way home. His parents say the University of Virginia student had been on a tour of the reclusive country.

North Korean authorities said they had security footage of him trying to steal a banner containing a political slogan that was hanging from the walls of his Pyongyang hotel.

That was used as evidence in his hour-long trial, during which North Korea accused him of committing “hostile acts” against the regime at the urging of a purported member of a church in his home state of Ohio, a secretive university organization and the CIA.

Warmbier was found guilty and sentenced in March 2016 to 15 years hard labor. It was the last time he was seen publicly.

“Otto’s detainment and sentence was unnecessary and appalling, and North Korea should be universally condemned for its abhorrent behavior. Otto should have been released from the start,” said US Sen. Rob Portman, who represents Warmbier’s home state of Ohio. “Fred, Cindy, and the Warmbier family have been remarkably strong throughout this ordeal. Over the last 18 months, they have had to endure more than any family should have to bear.”

The news of Warmbier’s release comes the same day as basketball star Dennis Rodman arrived in Pyongyang for an expected four-night visit. But there is no connection between the two events, US National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton said.

Rodman isn’t representing the US government or serving as President Donald Trump’s emissary, Anton said.

When asked if he would bring up the cases of Warmbier and three other Americans detained in North Korea, Rodman told reporters, “that’s not my purpose right now … My purpose is to go over there and try to see if I can keep bringing sports to North Korea.”

A source familiar with the government’s efforts to free Warmbier says the State Department learned about the student’s medical condition about a week ago. US officials then urged those with the ability to persuade Pyongyang to ratchet up the pressure to get him released, the source said.

Rodman had nothing to do with his release, the source added.

There are three other Americans currently being held in North Korea.

Two of them, Kim Sang Duk and Kim Hak-song, are academics who worked at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. The other is a businessman named Kim Dong Chul.

Tillerson said the US is discussing their respective cases with the North Korean regime. The US does not have a diplomatic mission in North Korea.

But their fates have been hanging in the balance as Pyongyang and Washington have seen relations get testier in recent months.

North Korea has fired 16 missiles in 10 tests this year. Experts say each launch gets the country closer to its stated goal of developing a nuclear-armed weapon capable of reaching the United States.

North Korea believes its missile program is the only way to deter Washington from trying to overthrow the regime of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.

Warmbier appeared emotional at a news conference organized by the North Koreans before his trial in March 2016.

He tearfully confessed to being “lured by the United States administration to commit a crime in this country.”

It’s not clear if he was forced to speak by the North Koreans.

His case largely stayed quiet after that until May of this year, when his parents decided it was time to speak out.

When they spoke to CNN on May 3, they said they had not seen or heard from Otto since his supposed confession.

“With tensions as high as they are, we felt that we needed to talk about Otto and put a face on the person,” Cindy Warmbier said.

Despite the increasingly hostile US-North Korean relationship, the Warmbiers said they were encouraged by US President Donald Trump’s willingness to improve relations with North Korea.</s>PYONGYANG, North Korea — American college student Otto Warmbier has been released after more than 17 months in detention in North Korea but has been in a coma for over a year, according to his parents.

The 22-year-old contracted botulism and is in “bad shape” but en route back to the United States, a source close to the family told CNN.

“Otto has left North Korea. He is on Medivac flight on his way home. Sadly, he is in a coma and we have been told he has been in that condition since March of 2016. We learned of this only one week ago,” said Fred and Cindy Warmbier in a statement.

“We want the world to know how we and our son have been brutalized and terrorized by the pariah regime in North Korean. We are so grateful that he will finally be with people who love him.”

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also confirmed Warmbier’s release in a statement.

Warmbier was detained in January 2016 at the airport in Pyongyang while on his way home. His parents say the University of Virginia student had been on a tour of the reclusive country.

North Korean authorities said they had security footage of him trying to steal a banner containing a political slogan that was hanging from the walls of his Pyongyang hotel.

That was used as evidence in his hour-long trial, during which North Korea accused him of committing “hostile acts” against the regime at the urging of a purported member of a church in his home state of Ohio, a secretive university organization and the CIA.

Warmbier was found guilty and sentenced in March 2016 to 15 years hard labor. It was the last time he was seen publicly.

“Otto’s detainment and sentence was unnecessary and appalling, and North Korea should be universally condemned for its abhorrent behavior. Otto should have been released from the start,” said US Sen. Rob Portman, who represents Warmbier’s home state of Ohio. “Fred, Cindy, and the Warmbier family have been remarkably strong throughout this ordeal. Over the last 18 months, they have had to endure more than any family should have to bear.”

The news of Warmbier’s release comes the same day as basketball star Dennis Rodman arrived in Pyongyang for an expected four-night visit. But there is no connection between the two events, US National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton said.

Rodman isn’t representing the US government or serving as President Donald Trump’s emissary, Anton said.

When asked if he would bring up the cases of Warmbier and three other Americans detained in North Korea, Rodman told reporters, “that’s not my purpose right now … My purpose is to go over there and try to see if I can keep bringing sports to North Korea.”

Rodman had nothing to do with his release, said a source familiar with the government’s efforts to free Warmbier.

Since last March, the US had been pressing North Korea to let Swedish officials see the four Americans, a senior State Department official told CNN. When the Swedes finally got the okay to visit, the North Koreans immediately asked for a meeting with Joe Yun, the US envoy in New York, when he was told about Otto Warmbier’s condition.

In that meeting about a week ago, Yun was told that Warmbier had contracted botulism a year ago and went into a coma after taking a sleeping pill. US officials then urged those with the ability to persuade Pyongyang to ratchet up the pressure to get him released, said the source, who is familiar with the government’s efforts.

A second senior State Department official said the US has not yet accepted the North Korean version of events in terms of the timing and cause of how Otto went into a coma.

“All we know so far is what they have told us,” the official said. “This is the North Korean version of events. We won’t know anything for sure until doctors are able to fully evaluate Otto’s condition.”

Two of the three other Americans being held in North Korea, Kim Sang Duk and Kim Hak-song, are academics who worked at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. The other is a businessman named Kim Dong Chul.

Tillerson said the US is discussing their respective cases with the North Korean regime. The US does not have a diplomatic mission in North Korea.

But their fates have been hanging in the balance as Pyongyang and Washington have seen relations get testier in recent months.

North Korea has fired 16 missiles in 10 tests this year. Experts say each launch gets the country closer to its stated goal of developing a nuclear-armed weapon capable of reaching the United States.

North Korea believes its missile program is the only way to deter Washington from trying to overthrow the regime of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.

Warmbier appeared emotional at a news conference organized by the North Koreans before his trial in March 2016.

He tearfully confessed to being “lured by the United States administration to commit a crime in this country.”

It’s not clear if he was forced to speak by the North Koreans.

His case largely stayed quiet after that until May of this year, when his parents decided it was time to speak out.

When they spoke to CNN on May 3, they said they had not seen or heard from Otto since his supposed confession.

“With tensions as high as they are, we felt that we needed to talk about Otto and put a face on the person,” Cindy Warmbier said.

Despite the increasingly hostile US-North Korean relationship, the Warmbiers said they were encouraged by US President Donald Trump’s willingness to improve relations with North Korea.</s>North Korea has released college student Otto Warmbier, and the American is on his way back to the U.S., says Secretary of State Tillerson.

"At the direction of the President, the Department of State has secured the release of Otto Warmbier from North Korea," Tillerson. "Mr. Warmbier is en route to the United States, where he will be reunited with his family."

The American was freed one year after a North Korean court sentenced him to 15 years in prison and hard labor. The University of Virginia student was initially detained in January of 2016, accused of trying to steal a propaganda banner at his Pyongyang hotel.

Tillerson added that discussions are still ongoing with North Korea "regarding three other U.S. citizens reported detained."

He said that out of "respect for the privacy of Mr. Warmbier and his family, we have no further comment on Mr. Warmbier."

News of Warmbier being freed comes on the same day former NBA star Dennis Rodman landed in North Korea to visit its leader, Kim Jong Un. Rodman has said he practices "basketball diplomacy"; it's not clear whether he spoke on Warmbier's behalf.

Warmbier, 22, apologized for his actions in a tearful appearance in court in February of 2016. One month later, he was sentenced to prison. Warmbier has said he arrived in North Korea on Dec. 29, 2015 and was arrested Jan. 2 as he prepared to fly out of Pyongyang's international airport.

North Korean officials had accused Warmbier of acting on behalf of a Methodist church in Ohio, his native state, as well as attempting to benefit the CIA and the Z Society, a group at UVA.</s>Pyongyang, North Korea (CNN) Otto Warmbier, an American college student jailed in North Korea, has been released after more than 17 months in detention, according to his parents.

"He is being medevacked to the US. The brutalization and terrorism the North Koreans have put upon Otto and the Warmbier family have ended. Thank God," they told CNN.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed his release in a statement, adding that Warmbier is en route to the United States.

No details on his medical condition were immediately available Tuesday.

Warmbier, 22, was detained in January 2016 at the airport in Pyongyang on his way home. His parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier, say the University of Virginia student had been on a tour of the reclusive country.

North Korean authorities said they had security footage of him trying to steal a banner containing a political slogan that was hanging from the walls of his Pyongyang hotel.

He was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years hard labor.

"Otto's detainment and sentence was unnecessary and appalling, and North Korea should be universally condemned for its abhorrent behavior. Otto should have been released from the start," said US Sen. Rob Portman, who represents Warmbier's home state of Ohio. "Fred, Cindy, and the Warmbier family have been remarkably strong throughout this ordeal. Over the last 18 months, they have had to endure more than any family should have to bear."

When asked if he would bring up the cases of Warmbier and three other Americans detained in North Korea, Rodman told reporters, "that's not my purpose right now ... My purpose is to go over there and try to see if I can keep bringing sports to North Korea."

There are three other Americans currently being held in North Korea.

Two of them, Kim Sang Duk and Kim Hak-song, are academics who worked at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. The other is a businessman named Kim Dong Chul.

Tillerson said the US is discussing their respective cases with the North Korean regime. The US does not have a diplomatic mission in North Korea.

But their fates have been hanging in the balance as Pyongyang and Washington have seen relations get testier in recent months.

North Korea has fired 16 missiles in 10 tests this year. Experts say each launch gets the country closer to its stated goal of developing a nuclear-armed weapon capable of reaching the United States.

North Korea believes its missile program is the only way to deter Washington from trying to overthrow the regime of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.

He tearfully confessed to being "lured by the United States administration to commit a crime in this country."

It's not clear if he was forced to speak by the North Koreans.

When they spoke to CNN on May 3, they said they had not seen or heard from Otto since his supposed confession.

"With tensions as high as they are, we felt that we needed to talk about Otto and put a face on the person," Cindy Warmbier said.

Despite the increasingly hostile US-North Korean relationship, the Warmbiers said they were encouraged by US President Donald Trump's willingness to improve relations with North Korea.</s>PYONGYANG, North Korea — American college student Otto Warmbier has been released after more than 17 months in detention in North Korea but has been in a coma for over a year, according to his parents.

The 22-year-old contracted botulism and is in “bad shape” but en route back to the United States, a source close to the family told CNN.

“Otto has left North Korea. He is on Medivac flight on his way home. Sadly, he is in a coma and we have been told he has been in that condition since March of 2016. We learned of this only one week ago,” said Fred and Cindy Warmbier in a statement.

“We want the world to know how we and our son have been brutalized and terrorized by the pariah regime in North Korean. We are so grateful that he will finally be with people who love him.”

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also confirmed Warmbier’s release in a statement.

Warmbier was detained in January 2016 at the airport in Pyongyang while on his way home. His parents say the University of Virginia student had been on a tour of the reclusive country.

North Korean authorities said they had security footage of him trying to steal a banner containing a political slogan that was hanging from the walls of his Pyongyang hotel.

That was used as evidence in his hour-long trial, during which North Korea accused him of committing “hostile acts” against the regime at the urging of a purported member of a church in his home state of Ohio, a secretive university organization and the CIA.

Warmbier was found guilty and sentenced in March 2016 to 15 years hard labor. It was the last time he was seen publicly.

“Otto’s detainment and sentence was unnecessary and appalling, and North Korea should be universally condemned for its abhorrent behavior. Otto should have been released from the start,” said US Sen. Rob Portman, who represents Warmbier’s home state of Ohio. “Fred, Cindy, and the Warmbier family have been remarkably strong throughout this ordeal. Over the last 18 months, they have had to endure more than any family should have to bear.”

The news of Warmbier’s release comes the same day as basketball star Dennis Rodman arrived in Pyongyang for an expected four-night visit.

When asked if he would bring up the cases of Warmbier and three other Americans detained in North Korea, Rodman told reporters, “That’s not my purpose right now … My purpose is to go over there and try to see if I can keep bringing sports to North Korea.”

There are three other Americans currently being held in North Korea.

Two of them, Kim Sang Duk and Kim Hak-song, are academics who worked at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. The other is a businessman named Kim Dong Chul.

Tillerson said the US is discussing their respective cases with the North Korean regime. The US does not have a diplomatic mission in North Korea.

But their fates have been hanging in the balance as Pyongyang and Washington have seen relations get testier in recent months.

North Korea has fired 16 missiles in 10 tests this year. Experts say each launch gets the country closer to its stated goal of developing a nuclear-armed weapon capable of reaching the United States.

North Korea believes its missile program is the only way to deter Washington from trying to overthrow the regime of Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.

Warmbier appeared emotional at a news conference organized by the North Koreans before his trial in March 2016.

He tearfully confessed to being “lured by the United States administration to commit a crime in this country.”

It’s not clear if he was forced to speak by the North Koreans.

His case largely stayed quiet after that until May of this year, when his parents decided it was time to speak out.

When they spoke to CNN on May 3, they said they had not seen or heard from Otto since his supposed confession.

“With tensions as high as they are, we felt that we needed to talk about Otto and put a face on the person,” Cindy Warmbier said.

Despite the increasingly hostile US-North Korean relationship, the Warmbiers said they were encouraged by US President Donald Trump’s willingness to improve relations with North Korea.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — North Korea has released Otto Warmbier, an American college student who was serving a 15-year prison term with hard labor for alleged anti-state acts, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday.

The U.S. announcement came as former NBA player Dennis Rodman was paying a return visit to Pyongyang.

“At the direction of the President, the Department of State has secured the release of Otto Warmbier from North Korea,” Tillerson said in a statement. “Mr. Warmbier is en route to the U.S. where he will be reunited with his family.”

The Washington Post, citing Warmbier’s parents, reported that he had been medically evacuated from North Korea in a coma, and was due to arrive home in Cincinnati on Tuesday evening. The report said he had been a coma for more than a year, since shortly after his last public appearance at his trial in Pyongyang in March 2016.

The Associated Press could not immediately confirm that information. Warmbier’s family did not respond to calls seeking comment.

The statement by Tillerson, which he later read Tuesday morning at a congressional hearing, offered no other details and made no mention of Rodman’s visit. Tillerson said the department would have no further comment on Warmbier and his condition, citing privacy concerns.

But he noted that the State Department is continuing “to have discussions” with North Korea about the release of other three American citizens who are jailed there.

A North Korean foreign ministry official said Warmbier was released and left the country Tuesday morning.

The official, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because no formal statement had been released, said he could not provide further details.

It was not immediately clear if Rodman’s visit to North Korea was purely coincidental with Warmbier’s release. Rodman has traveled to the isolated nation four times previously and is one of few people to have met both North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump. Speaking to reporters in Beijing before his arrival in Pyongyang on Tuesday, he said that the issue of several Americans detained by North Korea is “not my purpose right now.”

In March 2016, North Korea’s highest court sentenced Warmbier to 15 years in prison with hard labor for subversion as he tearfully confessed that he had tried to steal a propaganda banner.

Warmbier, 22, a University of Virginia undergraduate, was convicted and sentenced in a one-hour trial in North Korea’s Supreme Court.

The U.S. government condemned the sentence and accused North Korea of using such American detainees as political pawns.

The North Korean court held that Warmbier had committed a crime “pursuant to the U.S. government’s hostile policy toward (the North), in a bid to impair the unity of its people after entering it as a tourist.”

North Korea regularly accuses Washington and Seoul of sending spies to overthrow its government to enable the U.S.-backed South Korean government to take control of the Korean Peninsula.

Before his trial, Warmbier had said he tried to steal a propaganda banner as a trophy for an acquaintance who wanted to hang it in her church. That would be grounds in North Korea for a subversion charge. He identified the church as Friendship United Methodist Church. Meshach Kanyion, pastor of the church in Wyoming, declined to comment Wednesday.

North Korea announced Warmbier’s arrest in late January 2016, saying he committed an anti-state crime with “the tacit connivance of the U.S. government and under its manipulation.” Warmbier had been staying at the Yanggakdo International Hotel. It is common for sections of tourist hotels to be reserved for North Korean staff and off-limits to foreigners.

In a tearful statement made before his trial, Warmbier told a gathering of reporters in Pyongyang he was offered a used car worth $10,000 if he could get a propaganda banner and was also told that if he was detained and didn’t return, $200,000 would be paid to his mother in the form of a charitable donation.

Warmbier said he accepted the offer because his family was “suffering from very severe financial difficulties.”

Warmbier also said he had been encouraged by the university’s “Z Society,” which he said he was trying to join. The magazine of the university’s alumni association describes the Z Society as a “semi-secret ring society” founded in 1892 that conducts philanthropy, puts on honorary dinners and grants academic awards.

Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio said in a statement that Tillerson had confirmed to him Warmbier’s release. He said that over the past 18 months, Warmbier’s family has “had to endure more than any family should have to bear.” He said Warmbier’s sentence was “unnecessary and appalling.”

In the past, North Korea has held out until senior U.S. officials or statesmen came to personally bail out detainees, all the way up to former President Bill Clinton, whose visit in 2009 secured the freedom of American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling.

In November 2014, U.S. spy chief James Clapper went to Pyongyang to bring home Matthew Miller, who had ripped up his visa when entering the country and was serving a six-year sentence on an espionage charge, and Korean-American missionary Kenneth Bae, who had been sentenced to 15 years for alleged anti-government activities.

Jeffrey Fowle, another U.S. tourist from Ohio detained for six months at about the same time as Miller, was released just before that and sent home on a U.S. government plane. Fowle left a Bible in a local club hoping a North Korean would find it, which is considered a criminal offense in North Korea.

AP reporters Josh Lederman and Matthew Penningotn in Washington and Eric Talmadge in Pyongyang, North Korea, contributed to this report.
After over a year in North Korean prison, the government releases the one-year comatose Otto Warmbier after negotiations from the United States Department of State.