Otto Warmbier, an American college student jailed in North Korea, has been released, according to his parents.
Warmbier's parents described their son's release as a medical evacuation.
U.S and North Korean officials say Rodman had nothing to do with the release of American student Otto Warmbier, who had been serving a 15-year sentence in a North Korean prison for alleged anti-state acts.
An airplane carrying OH native Otto Warmbier landed in Cincinnati late Tuesday night. When the Swedes finally got the okay to visit, the North Koreans immediately asked for a meeting with Joe Yun, the U.S. envoy in NY, when he was told about Otto Warmbier's condition.
However, he said the issue of several Americans detained by North Korea is "not my goal right now".
At last month's graduation ceremony in Charlottesville, University of Virginia students reportedly passed out stickers bearing a #FreeOtto message. "We wish him well, but we have issued travel warnings to Americans and suggested they not travel to North Korea for their own safety".
Warmbier was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in 2016 after attempting to steal a propaganda poster.
A Department of State spokeswoman said that out of respect for the privacy of Warmbier's family, "we have no further comment".
She said the university community has his family in its thoughts and prayers as he returns home. Mr Warmbier's family said in a statement that he is in a coma and on his way home.
"Otto has left North Korea", his parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier, said in a statement to CNN.
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Tillerson said: "At the direction of the president, the Department of State has secured the release of Otto Warmbier from North Korea". Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and others had been working for his release through the Swedish embassy in North Korea.
A former Virginia resident, Kim Dong-chul, was arrested shortly after Warmbier, on accusations of espionage, and has been held since.
Certainly Mr. Trump is aware of Mr. Rodman's visit, but the former athlete's trip doesn't have official backing.
Rodman, wearing a shirt advertising PotCoin, the online currency used to buy and sell legal marijuana, promoted and thanked the group for sponsoring the trip before saying that he iss making the trip so that "the door can be a little bit open" between the USA and North Korea. And Yun was dispatched to North Korea and visited Warmbier with two doctors on Monday, and demanded his release.
Although details concerning the exact goal of Rodman's visit remain unknown, some analysts believe the retired basketball star is seeking to relay a message from President Donald Trump, who had previously lauded his attempts to engage North Korea following the country's repeated recent attempts to launch nuclear missile strikes.
"I never, never should have allowed myself to be lured by the United States administration to commit a crime in this country", Warmbier said in what experts say likely was a response scripted by officials of the dictatorship.
Rodman spoke to reporters at the Beijing International Airport before leaving for Pyongyang.
After the Swedish diplomats met with the detained Americans, the North Koreans urgently asked to have a meeting with the U.S.in NY. However, he has said that he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jung-Un.
The 56-year-old former basketball star has visited North Korea at least four times. A 2009 visit by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, secured the freedom of American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling.
Tillerson said the State Department is still working on the release of the three other USA citizens detained in North Korea. He worked at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.
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