Days after U.S. student Otto Warmbier died, North Korean state media said his death was a "mystery" and dismissed accusations he was tortured during his 17 months in captivity in the country.
North Korea denied torturing American detainee Otto Warmbier on Friday, deeming the cause of his death a "mystery".
In an article published by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) Pyongyang said they treated the 22-year-old according to domestic law and global standards.
The diplomat said Warmbier "had been provided with the necessary treatment, although North Korea had no reason at all to show mercy to such a criminal of the enemy state".
During the period that Warmbier was held in detention, the North Korean authorities kept the USA authorities and his family in the dark about his whereabouts and condition. Warmbier is said to have suffered a severe neurological injury.
KCNA quoted an unnamed spokesman for the country's National Reconciliation Council as saying: "Our relevant agencies treat all criminals. thoroughly in accordance with domestic laws and global standards and Warmbier was not an exception".
Warmbier was accused of stealing a propaganda poster. "To make it clear, we are the biggest victim of this incident".
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Rodman's agent Chris Volo backed up Rodman's claim that he helped get Warmbier out of North Korea. The editorial alleged Trump is considering launching a preemptive strike against North Korea to divert attention from domestic political problems.
But U.S. officials learned after his return that he had been in a state of coma for weeks before he was returned to the U.S.
But in its first statement since the University of Virginia undergraduate's death, North Korea refuted the accusations.
Dennis Rodman is building his humanitarian credibility, one trip to North Korea at a time.
After his trial, North Korea told the United States that he had come down with a case of botulism and was given a sleeping pill, which he never woke up from. Officials at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he was treated after his return from the North, declined to provide details, and his family asked the Hamilton County Coroner on Tuesday not to perform an autopsy.
The North's foreign ministry spokesman put the blame for Warmbier's death on the previous United States administration of Barack Obama which it said had "not even once" made an official request for his release. He had been in a comatose state since at least April 2016, according to two MRI scans that were on a disc that arrived with the student from North Korea, Dr. Daniel Kanter told reporters earlier in June.
North Korea has been accused of of using foreign detainees to try to win diplomatic concessions.
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