North Korea releases American coma patient, after making him serve 15yrs in prison

IMAGE: Otto Warmbier/AP

Washington: An American college student who was released from a North Korean prison arrived home but in a coma and undergoing a treatment at an Ohio hospital. According to his parents, Otto Warmbier has been in coma while serving a 15 year prison term with hard labour and was released and returned to United States as the Trump administration revealed a rare exchange with the 'reclusive' country. An airplane carrying Otto Warmbier, a resident of Ohio, landed in Cincinnati late Tuesday night.  The 22-year-old was then taken by ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Warmbier's freedom saw light when former NBA star Dennis Rodman visited North Korea. Rodman is one of the few people to have met both North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump, who was Rodman's boss on "Celebrity Apprentice." Department of State spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters that Rodman had nothing to do with Warmbier's release. Rodman, who has travelled to the isolated nation four times since 2013, had told reporters before arriving in Pyongyang that he hopes his trip will "open a door" for Trump. The detention of Americans, often sentenced to draconian prison sentences for seemingly small offenses in the totalitarian nation, has compounded tensions between Washington and Pyongyang. Three Americans remain in custody. According to media, a hospital spokeswoman said Warmbier's family was expected to hold a news conference Thursday morning at Wyoming High School. “US President Donald Trump worked ‘very hard and very closely’ with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Attaining Warmbier’s release ‘was a big priority’.” Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told media. Warmbier's parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier told media that he was in a coma and was flying home. They said they were told he has been in a coma since his trial, when he was last seen in public, and they had learned of this only one week ago. "We want the world to know how we and our son have been brutalised and terrorised by the pariah regime in North Korea," Warmbier's parents told media. "We are so grateful that he will finally be with people who love him." The news of Warmbier’s release has rejoiced the neighbourhood in Wyoming. As per a white house official, Trump had instructed Tillerson to take all appropriate measures to secure the release of Americans held in North Korea. The official referred to them as "hostages". The US government accuses North Korea of using such detainees as political pawns. North Korea accuses Washington and South Korea of sending spies to overthrow its government. North Korea poses one of the greatest security challenges for Trump as it tries to develop a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike America. In the wake of Warmbier’s case he is looking to increase economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea, with help from China but has said he's open to meeting Kim. In the past, North Korea has held out until senior US officials or statesmen came to personally bail out detainees. A 2009 visit by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, secured the freedom of American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling. Tillerson also added that Department of State was continuing "to have discussions" with North Korea about the release of other three American citizens imprisoned there. (With agency inputs)