American detainee's death in North Korea baffles experts

The 22-year-old "has completed his journey home", relatives said in a statement.

They believe their son's critical condition and death were caused by what they called "the terrible, torturous treatment he'd received" under the North Korean regime, after it sentenced him to 15 years of hard labor for allegedly stealing a political poster from a hotel while on holiday. He was finally returned to the USA last week; however, American doctors said he suffered "severe injury to all regions of the brain".

JTA reported last week that Warmbier was active at the University of Virginia Hillel after participating in a Birthright trip to Israel in 2014.

In this February 29, 2016, photo, American student Otto Warmbier cries while speaking to reporters in Pyongyang, North Korea.

CINCINNATI (AP) - A public funeral service is planned Thursday at a high school attended by a 22-year-old college student who was held for almost a year and a half in North Korea and died shortly after he was sent home to OH in a coma. "He looked very uncomfortable - nearly anguished", they said.

Fred Warmbier, the student's father, has said he does not believe this account.

Mr Warmbier, who was jailed for trying to steal a propaganda sign from a hotel, did not regain consciousness. He was eventually sentenced to 15 years of hard labour at a show trial. He arrived in OH on June 13 after being held for more than 17 months. His family said it was told he had been a coma since soon after his March 2016 sentencing. His eyes opened and blinked but without any sign that he understood verbal commands or his surroundings.

The North Koreans told US officials that Warmbier had suffered from botulism and then slipped into a coma after taking a sleeping pill but Cincinnati doctors said that their examination showed no evidence of botulism, the strong neurotoxin produced by a bacterium.

The government of China, North Korea's main ally, said Warmbier's death was a tragedy.

If the Trump administration wants to punish North Korea over its treatment of Warmbier, it would need Beijing's help.

Meanwhile, liberal media outlets did not assign any blame to the 4 Iranian-Americans who were arrested in Iran during Barack Obama's presidency.

Otto Warmbier grew up in the northern Cincinnati suburb of Wyoming. But some analysts believe negotiations could happen because of USA worries about the safety of the three other Americans still detained in North Korea.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson repeated demands that North Korea release three other U.S. citizens it holds in detention: missionary Kim Dong Chul and academics Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song.

Early this month, North Korean diplomats at the United Nations urgently requested a face-to-face meeting with US officials in NY.

Some observers believe that North Korea became anxious because Warmbier's condition suddenly worsened.

Warmbier was medically evacuated from North Korea on June 13 following diplomatic talks at the top of the US government.

"Yes, this had happened while Mr Warmbier was in the detention of North Korean authorities", Moon told CBS television's "This Morning". He was leaving North Korea on January 2, 2016, when he was detained at the airport.

Moon expressed his condolences to the bereaved family of Warmbier and said his death should have made all realize how important it was to rid the communist North of its nuclear weapons.