What Happened to Otto Warmbier? The Untold Story

In 2016, Otto Warmbier was a 21-year-old student, excited to travel the globe. He seized an opportunity to celebrate the New Year in North Korea, one of the world’s most isolated countries. Days later, he was mysteriously arrested at Pyongyang’s airport as he boarded the plane.

Months later, Warmbier was sentenced to hard labor, and his family and friends had no idea where he was imprisoned. More than one year later, Warmbier was released, but he was in a coma.

So, what really happened to this bright and promising American student while in North Korea?

Background

Otto Frederick Warmbier was born on December 12th, 1994, in Cincinnati, Ohio.

After graduating from Wyoming High School in 2013, Warmbier enrolled at the University of Virginia, where he became a member of the Theta Chi fraternity. He majored in commerce and economics and was known as a hard-working student.

Warmbier loved traveling and exploring, which led him to spend some time in the United Kingdom as a foreign exchange student. During his time abroad, he visited several European countries, as well as Israel, Cuba, and Ecuador.

He dreamed of working in finance, so Warmbier applied for a finance course in Hong Kong sponsored by the University of Virginia. The course was scheduled to begin in early January 2016, and since he was on winter break, Warmbier decided to visit North Korea before flying to Hong Kong.

Although his family wasn’t too thrilled and advised Warmbier not to go, the 21-year-old contacted the Young Pioneer Tours, a travel company based in China that offers travel packages to less tourist-friendly destinations such as Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and North Korea.

He booked a spot on the “New Year’s Party Tour”, a five-day trip to Pyongyang during which Warmbier hoped he would experience the culture of one of the most isolated countries in the world.

The trip to North Korea

On December 29th, 2015, Warmbier was on the Air Koryo flight from Beijing to Pyongyang.

A group of 20 tourists arrived at Sunan International Airport and made their way to the Yanggakdo International Hotel, where they would be staying for the next few days.

Local tour guides accompanied the foreigners as they explored Pyongyang’s Grand Monument and visited the Demilitarized Zone on the border with South Korea.

On New Year’s Eve, the group gathered in Kim Il Sung Square at the very heart of Pyongyang and then returned to the hotel, where some celebrated by drinking alcohol.

The group was scheduled to leave Pyongyang on the morning of January 2nd, 2016, so they left their hotel early.

Everything seemed normal as travelers checked in their bags. Warmbier was waiting patiently at the end of the line when the officers approached the student and tapped him on the shoulder. He was led to a nearby room while the rest of the travelers boarded the plane.

No one knew why Warmbier was taken away by the officers, but they assumed his luggage had been randomly chosen for inspection. The plane was ready for takeoff, but the 21-year-old was nowhere to be seen.

**Otto Warmbier being escorted by guards.**

Soon, an officer boarded the plane and informed one of the Young Pioneers Tours guides that Warmbier had been taken to a hospital because he felt ill. He reassured the guide that the young man would be on a flight to Beijing in a couple of days.

North Korean officials remained silent for three weeks regarding Warmbier. In late January, the Korean Central News Agency announced Warmbier was arrested for “perpetrating a hostile act against DPRK”. No further information was given at that time.

On February 29th, 2016, Warmbier appeared in front of the cameras for a press conference. The student confessed to trying to steal a propaganda poster from an employee-only area of the Yanggakdo International Hotel.

According to Warmbier’s statement, he was instructed to do so by his local Methodist church, as well as a secret society at the University of Virginia.

Warmbier appeared to be in distress as he sobbed and begged the government of North Korea to allow him to return home.

However, once the press conference ended, Warmbier was taken back to an undisclosed location. Meanwhile, US diplomats and negotiators worked behind the scenes to release the 21-year-old student, but the relationship between the two countries was strained.

North Korean officials claimed they had concrete evidence that Warmbier was indeed the person who attempted to steal the propaganda poster. The proof consisted of a grainy surveillance video of a male person on the second floor of the hotel.

Two and a half weeks after the press conference, Warmbier was in a courtroom. He faced the charges of subversion under Article 60 of North Korea’s Criminal Code.

The judge was shown Warmbier’s videotaped confession in which he stated the poster was too large to be hidden in his luggage, so he left it on the floor of the staff-only area. The surveillance footage from the hotel does show a figure doing precisely that.

Additionally, several witnesses who had allegedly seen Warmbier testified in court, and a fingerprint expert confirmed that Warmbier was the one who tried to take the propaganda poster from the wall.

After less than one hour, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. Warmbier looked visibly shaken as he was escorted out of the courtroom. He just became a prisoner of North Korea, a country that didn’t have good diplomatic relations with the US.

As months went by, the US State Department reassured his family and friends that they were doing everything in their power to secure his release.

Return to the United States

Warmbier’s parents, Fred and Cindy, met with several officials and urged them to include the release of their son as a part of the ongoing negotiations with North Korea.

Things started moving in the right direction in June 2017 when North Korean officials agreed to talk with Joseph Yun, the US State Department Representative.

During the meeting, Yun learned that Warmbier was currently in a coma. He was told that soon after the sentencing, Warmbier contracted foodborne botulism. The student was given a sleeping pill and had a bad reaction to the medicine.

A team of medical personnel traveled to North Korea to assess Warmbier’s condition. Upon their arrival in Pyongyang, they were taken to a local hospital to see Warmbier.

The student was unresponsive, but according to the US doctors, he didn’t seem to be in a coma. They were informed that Warmbier was hospitalized shortly after the trial.

After 17 months, Warmbier left the Pyongyang Friendship Hospital and arrived in Cincinnati on June 13th, 2017. His parents waited for him at the airport and accompanied Warmbier to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Warmbier was immediately examined by physicians who concluded the 21-year-old was in a persistent vegetative state.

North Korean medical staff provided Warmbier’s medical documentation, including two MRI brain scans performed immediately after the hospitalization in April 2016 and again in July of the same year. The scans confirmed loss of brain tissue, which was consistent with oxygen deprivation caused by a cardiopulmonary event.

The medical team didn’t know what caused brain damage, but it likely meant Warmbier was without oxygen for approximately four minutes. Upon his arrival in the States, Warmbier was able to breathe on his own and blink his eyes. Unfortunately, he wasn’t aware of his surroundings.

A further examination of his body didn’t reveal any broken bones or healed fractures. The only new scar Warmbier had was on his left foot, but the cause of this injury was unclear.

His passing

On June 19th, 2017, just six days after his return to the States, Warmbier’s parents agreed to have his feeding tube removed. He passed away peacefully at 2:20 pm, surrounded by his loved ones.

The Warmbiers requested no autopsy, which left doctors to speculate about the cause of death.

The medical team concluded that the reaction to a sleeping pill he was reportedly given could’ve caused brain damage. Other possible causes included pneumonia, sepsis, and even a blood clot.

Warmbier was laid to rest on June 22nd, 2017, at Oak Hill Cemetery in Glendale, Ohio. More than 2,500 people attended his funeral.

Reactions

Following Warmbier’s death, the US government issued a travel ban to all American citizens who planned to visit North Korea, starting on September 1st, 2017.

President Donald Trump was quite vocal regarding the incident, accusing North Korea of severely mistreating the student. Warmbier’s parents agreed with President Trump.

In April 2018, the Warmbier family filed a lawsuit against the North Korean government. Representatives of North Korea didn’t appear in the United States federal district court in Washington, D.C., but their spokesperson denied the regime ever hurt Warmbier.

In December 2018, the North Korean government was found guilty and ordered to pay $501 million to the Warmbier family.

Despite openly blaming North Korea for Otto Warmer’s death, President Trump changed his story in February 2019 after a meeting with Kim Jong Un. The president stated that Kim Jong Un had no idea Warmbier was being kept as a prisoner at all.

The Warmbier family continues to speak out against the North Korean regime and has become advocates for human rights. In 2022, Seohyun Lee, a North Korean defector, received a scholarship from the Warmbier family.