A coroner's office in OH is investigating the death of a 22-year-old college student who died shortly after his return to the US after almost a year and a half in North Korean detention, a spokesman said Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump has called North Korea a "brutal regime" after the death of the student who had been jailed there for more than 15 months.
University of Virginia President Teresa A. Sullivan says her thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of 22-year-old Otto Warmbier (WORM'-bir) "during what has been an incredibly hard time".
Earlier Tuesday, Trump seemed to imply the Obama administration could have prevented Warmbier's death. "That should never ever be allowed to happen", Trump said.
Pundits interpret the message as a possibility Washington may act alone, as President Trump has said numerous times that if Beijing can not solve the North Korean issue, the U.S.is capable of handling it by itself.
"During the course of the Obama Administration, we had no higher priority than securing the release of Americans detained overseas", Obama spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
Leaders are now weighing in on his death condemning the actions of North Korea.
Han Tae Song, a senior North Korean official, declined to speak about Warmbier's case, but in speaking about detainees said, "We are doing according to our national laws, and according to the worldwide standards". He died surrounded by family in an OH hospital.
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The 22-year-old United States student died on 19 June shortly after being freed from a detention facility in North Korea.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson vowed to hold North Korea to account for Mr Warmbier's death, plus work to released three other "illegally detained" Americans.
There was no immediate word from the family about why relatives declined an autopsy, which may have shed more light on the cause of the neurological injuries that left him in a coma.
30 Dec 2015 - Mr Warmbier travels from Beijing to Pyongyang with a tour group.
American student Otto Warmbier speaks as he is presented to reporters in Pyongyang, North Korea.
"We can not know for sure that North Korea killed Mr Warmbier, but I believe it is quite clear that they have a heavy responsibility in the process that led to his death", Mr Moon told CBS television's "This Morning".
Given how ardently the USA had sought the cooperation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump upended much of that work in 140 characters, tweeting that Chinese efforts have "not worked out".
"I personally believe that it is not possible for China to step up sanctions against North Korea because China has already been tough".
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