Trump blasts ‘brutal’ North Korea after student’s death

Friends and supporters of Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old college student who was released from a North Korean prison on Tuesday, gather together to show their support for the Warmbier family June 15, 2017 in Wyoming, Ohio. Warmbier spent 17 months in a North Korean prison after being sentenced to 15 years for allegedly attempting to steal a propaganda poster. Warmbier who was in a coma died Monday, June 19, 2017. AFP

WASHINGTON, United States — President Donald Trump on Monday denounced North Korea as “a brutal regime” after the death of a 22-year-old US student released by the reclusive country in a coma last week.

Speaking moments after news of Otto Warmbier’s death was announced publicly, Trump hit out at Pyongyang.

“It’s a brutal regime,” the president said during a White House event. “Bad things happened but at least we got him home to his parents.”

In a separate written statement, Trump offered his “deepest condolences” to Warmbier’s family “on his untimely passing.”

“There is nothing more tragic for a parent than to lose a child in the prime of life. Our thoughts and prayers are with Otto’s family and friends, and all who loved him.”

“Otto’s fate deepens my Administration’s determination to prevent such tragedies from befalling innocent people at the hands of regimes that do not respect the rule of law or basic human decency.”

“The United States once again condemns the brutality of the North Korean regime as we mourn its latest victim.” CBB