Emmett Saulnier, Warmbier's roommate at the University of Virginia, told VOA that Warmbier's parents called him early Tuesday, before news broke of Warmbier's release, to let him know his friend would be returning.
During a subsequent press conference, which was arranged by North Korean officials, Otto Warmbier confessed to "taking out a political slogan from the staff-only area of the Yanggakdo International Hotel". He is on a Medivac flight on his way home.
She says it's an "extremely sad" situation that student Otto Warmbier (WORM'-bir) is in a coma. "We learned of this only one week ago".
A source close to the family told CNN that Mr. Warmbier had contracted botulism and was in "bad shape".
Bill Richardson, a veteran former diplomat and politician who has played a role in past negotiations with North Korea, welcomed Warmbier's release but said "we are deeply concerned regarding his health". "We are so grateful that he will finally be with people who love him." they added.
Otto Warmbier was released from a North Korean prison on Tuesday and is now being transported back to the United States, according to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
At last check, Warmbier was on his way back to the U.S.to be reunited with his family.
April 29, 2016 North Korea has detained USA citizen, Tony Kim, who also goes by his Korean name Kim Sang-duk, officials said Sunday, April 23, 2017, bringing to three the number of Americans now being held there.
In the past, North Korea has held out until senior US officials or statesmen came to personally bail out detainees.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions Opening Statement For The Senate Intelligence Hearing, Annotated
Even with his recusal from the investigation, Sessions made it clear he was going to defend himself against the allegations. Chairman, I want to thank you for holding this hearing in the open, in full view of the American people where it belongs.
The North still holds three other Americans. Kim Hak-song, who was detained in May, also worked in the same university as Kim.
Warmbier was flown out of North Korea on the same day that Dennis Rodman, the controversial former basketball star, arrived for his fifth visit to Pyongyang.
News of Warmbier's deteriorating health only reached US officials in recent weeks, leading to an urgent demand that he be released on humanitarian grounds on Monday. He told reporters in Beijing that it is "not my objective right now".
Such direct consultations between the two governments are rare.
Despite Warmbier's release, there are still three other US citizens believed to be detained by the North Korean regime.
In announcing his arrest in 2016, North Korean state news media said that Mr. Warmbier had visited the country with the intention of "bringing down the foundation of its single-minded unity".
Rodman has previously visited North Korea at least four times in 2013 and 2014.
As reported by Cavalier Daily, Warmbier made the same confession during his criminal trial. A former Virginia resident and naturalized American citizen, Kim Dong-chul, was arrested shortly after Warmbier on accusations of espionage, and was sentenced to 10 years.
The North Korean court held that Warmbier had committed a crime "pursuant to the USA government's hostile policy toward (the North), in a bid to impair the unity of its people after entering it as a tourist".
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