Warmbier, a University of Virginia student, was accused of trying to steal a propaganda banner while visiting with a tour group and was convicted of subversion. A South Korea-born businessman and naturalized United States citizen, Kim Tong Chul, was arrested in October 2015 and was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor on charges of espionage and subversion. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Warmbier’s death after his lengthy detention in North Korea was a “total disgrace” and that if the college student had been returned home to the U.S. earlier, “I think the result would have been a lot different.”

North Korea must bear “heavy responsibility” for Warmbier’s death, said South Korean President Moon Jae-in. Young Pioneer Tours adventure travel company, based in China, reconsidered its position on taking US citizens on tours to North Korea and will no longer organize their trips to the country, according to the agency’s statement published on Tuesday. “Now, the assessment of risk for Americans visiting North Korea has become too high.”

While the group condemns the “way” that North Korea handled the detention as “appalling” and a “tragedy,” it does not condemn the North Korean regime for arresting Warmbier in the first place or for its record of detaining Americans to be used as diplomatic bargaining chips.
Following the death of 22-year-old U.S. student Otto Warmbier, touring firm Young Pioneer Tours, who arranged Otto's visit to North Korea, say they will no longer be taking U.S. citizens to North Korea as the "risk is too high". Beijing-based Koryo Tours say they are reviewing their positions on taking U.S. citizens to the country.