President Trump secured Warmbier’s release from North Korea, where he had been given a 15-year prison sentence for trying to steal a propaganda poster from a hotel. He was brought home to his family on June 13 in a coma and passed away on Monday, less than a week after his return.
In response to Warmbier’s death, Trump denounced the regime’s lack of respect for “the rule of law or basic human decency,” saying his administration is determined to prevent such tragedies from occurring again.
In a brief statement to reporters on Tuesday, Trump followed up saying, “It’s a brutal regime, and we’ll be able to handle it.”
It is not yet clear how the administration intends to do to handle the rogue nuclear nation and its leader Kim Jong-un.
In recent months, Trump has demanded tougher United Nations sanctions on the regime in response to its repeated, provocative ballistic missile tests. On June 2 the Security Council unanimously approved a new set of minor sanctions on Pyongyang after the United States spent weeks pressing China to join the international community in condemning the regime. China remains North Korea closest ally and trade partner.
Trump has touted his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping as a source of leverage to keep the North in check. The two leaders met for the first time in April at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and have spoken on the phone on a handful of occasions. In recent weeks, Trump has praised China over social media for attempting to rein in North Korea.
On Tuesday, Trump tweeted an ambiguous message saying that while he appreciates President Xi’s efforts, “it has not worked out.”
President Trump has also suggested that a military response could be an option. After a series of North Korean missile tests in April, Trump told reporters, “There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely.”
Shortly after that statement, the United States deployed its first aircraft carrier group around the USS Carl Vinson to the Pacific. Since then, the U.S. has deployed the USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group and at the USS Nimitz departed for the region at the end of May.
In testimony before the House and Senate last week, Defense Secretary James Mattis described North Korea as “the most urgent and dangerous threat to peace and security.”
When asked about a military response to the rogue nation, he painted a grim picture of a war the United States would win, but at tremendous cost. “It will be a war more serious in terms of human suffering than anything we’ve seen since 1953,” he warned.
All of those options are on the table for the president. And lawmakers are urging a response to what they see as an act of murder by Pyongyang.
“Let us state the facts plainly: Otto Warmbier, an American citizen, was murdered by the Kim Jong-un regime.” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) stated in a press release. “The United States of America cannot and should not tolerate the murder of its citizens by hostile powers.”
On Tuesday, McCain was pressed on how the U.S. should respond, telling reporters, that the U.S. has “plenty of leverage” and “plenty of weapons.”
“There are plenty of options that we have and I certainly wouldn’t describe any of them right now. But we’re the strongest nation on earth and I’m sure we have a lot of capability,” he said.
On the Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) questioned whether the regime had timed their release of Warmbier so they would not have to explain his death in North Korean custody.
“The time of his death doesn’t change the fact that the North Koreans killed him. And they’re guilty of murder,” Isakson charged.
The circumstances of Warmbier’s release are puzzling. Officials in Pyongyang alleged that the student contracted botulism after his sentencing in March 2016 and then fell into a coma. Doctors at University of Cincinnati Health could not find any evidence of botulism, but reported the student suffered “extensive loss of tissue” in all parts of his brain.
The exact cause of his death is still unknown, and according to a statement from the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office there will not be an autopsy.
Isakson stated that Kim Jong-un “is at the top of the list” to face consequences for the loss of Otto Warmbier, but what those will be should be left to President Trump to determine.
One of the more likely options the Trump administration could pursue would be “an ultimatum challenge,” the Georgia Republican explained, namely, setting out a timeline of conditions the regime has to meet or face future consequences. “That forces their hand” to account for Warmbier’s death, he said. “Secondly, it gives you some time to measure whether or not they’re going to be responsive.”
Isakson further noted that a “military challenge” or diplomatic channel were also possible options.
In the shocking aftermath of Warmbier’s return, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) was most concerned about the remaining three American prisoners in North Korean custody.
“Are there things we can do with respect to prisoners who are still there, that’s a significant interest I have now,” he said.
Kaine further noted that that the suspicious circumstances of Otto Warmbier’s medical condition point to the fact that “clearly North Korea was complicit in his death.”
Otto Warmbier’s father Fred and mother Cindy issued a heart-breaking statement on Monday confirming their son’s death.
After his son was returned in a comatose state, Fred Warmbier thanked the Trump administration for securing his release, but indicated that the Obama administration had not done enough during their son’s 17-month captivity.
“The question is, ‘Do I think the past administration could have done more?’ I think the results speak for themselves,” Warmbier said at news conference last week.
On Tuesday, Obama’s spokesman Ned Price issued a statement stating that while the former president is proud of securing the release of ten Americans detained overseas, “it is painful that Mr. Warmbier was not among them.”
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) spoke numerous times with the Warmbier family in the course of their son’s captivity. Otto Warmbier was raised in Cincinnati and returned to his home city to receive medical attention.
Brown again extended his sympathies to the family, saying “they have a right to be angry … at this barbarian regime.”
Warmbier was a student at the University of Virginia before he traveled to North Korea on a trip organized by Young Pioneer Tours. The travel group issued a statement on Monday announcing they would no longer be taking U.S. citizens to country.
While it is not illegal for Americans to travel to North Korea, it is strongly discouraged by the State Department.
Without an embassy presence in the country, the U.S. government does not have the means to protect citizens who travel there. Kim Jong-un and his successor Kim Jong-il also demonstrated an interest in using captured Americans as political pawns, wrongfully imprisoning 17 Americans over the past ten years.
In light of this fact, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) sponsored bipartisan legislation that would ban U.S. tourism in North Korea and require all Americans who travel to North Korea to seek a license from the Treasury Department.
The tragedy of Otto Warmbier may speed up action on the tourism ban, which Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is considering.
In the coming days, the Trump administration will send officials to Capitol Hill to brief relevant members on the circumstances of Warmbier’s death and the state of U.S.-North Korea relations.
On Thursday, Joseph Yun, the State Department special representative for North Korea policy is scheduled to brief the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a closed hearing. The hearing was scheduled before Otto Warmbier’s release, but the issue and the U.S. response is almost certain to dominate the discussion.
