Otto Warmbier’s Parents Hope For ‘Something Positive’ From Trump-Kim Summit
American student Otto Warmbier was imprisoned in North Korea for over a year. Image by youtube
Otto Warmbier’s parents said they hope “something positive” will come out of President Trump’s summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Fred and Cindy Warmbier said they appreciated Trump’s statement that their son did not die in vain.
“We are proud of Otto and miss him,” the parents, who are Jewish, said in a brief statement. “Hopefully something positive can come from this.”
After meeting Kim, Trump called Warmbier’s death a key impetus for the summit, although he did not elaborate. He also did not explain how or if the warming ties might affect North Korea’s status as one of the most repressive regimes in the world.
Warmbier, from Wyoming, Ohio, and a student at the University of Virginia, died at the age of 22 days after he was returned to the United States in a coma.
He had been imprisoned in North Korea from January 2016 after being sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for trying to steal an item bearing a propaganda slogan from his hotel, North Korea state media said.
U.S. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio said on Tuesday that Otto Warmbier’s death “is a constant reminder to me about the evil nature of this regime.”
“Following this historic summit, I remain skeptical but hopeful that this new dialog can translate into meaningful progress,” Portman said.—Reuters
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
